Default tab to show in Publisher on the Office Start screen and in File | New: registry value officestartdefaulttabUserHKCU\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\publisher\preferences

Policy ID: L_DefaultBuiltInTab
Scope: User Configuration
Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
Source: Microsoft 365 Apps / Office Administrative Templates (version 5568.1000)
Category: Microsoft Publisher 2016 › Miscellaneous

Registry

officestartdefaulttab

REG_DWORDUser

HKCU\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\publisher\preferences Current key

Enabled value: Depends on the option value
Element: Default tab

Options
Item	Stored value
Featured	0
Built-in	2
Custom	1

Apply with .reg · CMD · PowerShell

.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\publisher\preferences]

; Options (use only one)
; Featured
"officestartdefaulttab"=dword:00000000
; Built-in
"officestartdefaulttab"=dword:00000002
; Custom
"officestartdefaulttab"=dword:00000001

CMD

:: Options (use only one)

:: Featured
reg add "HKCU\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\publisher\preferences" /v "officestartdefaulttab" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
:: Built-in
reg add "HKCU\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\publisher\preferences" /v "officestartdefaulttab" /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f
:: Custom
reg add "HKCU\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\publisher\preferences" /v "officestartdefaulttab" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

PowerShell

# Common: create the key
New-Item -Path 'HKCU:\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\publisher\preferences' -Force | Out-Null

# Options (use only one)
# Featured
New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\publisher\preferences' -Name 'officestartdefaulttab' -PropertyType DWord -Value 0 -Force | Out-Null
# Built-in
New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\publisher\preferences' -Name 'officestartdefaulttab' -PropertyType DWord -Value 2 -Force | Out-Null
# Custom
New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\software\policies\microsoft\office\16.0\publisher\preferences' -Name 'officestartdefaulttab' -PropertyType DWord -Value 1 -Force | Out-Null