diff --git a/.Rbuildignore b/.Rbuildignore
index f6b8cba..efbfeaf 100644
--- a/.Rbuildignore
+++ b/.Rbuildignore
@@ -7,3 +7,4 @@
 ^revdep$
 ^Dockerfile$
 ^inst/medias$
+^dev_local
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index fc3f269..0f9e392 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@
 .Ruserdata
 revdep
 Dockerfile
+dev_local
diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index 12a3d60..80817d0 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 Package: doconv
 Type: Package
 Title: Document Conversion to 'PDF' or 'PNG'
-Version: 0.3.2
+Version: 0.3.3.0001
 Authors@R: c(
     person("David", "Gohel", role = c("aut", "cre"),
     email = "david.gohel@ardata.fr"),
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ Description: It provides the ability to generate images from documents
 License: MIT + file LICENSE
 Encoding: UTF-8
 Roxygen: list(markdown = TRUE)
-RoxygenNote: 7.2.3
+RoxygenNote: 7.3.2
 Imports: magick, pdftools, locatexec, processx, tools
 Depends: R (>= 4.0.0)
 Suggests: tinytest, testthat, webshot2
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index dc5da4b..e7be7b0 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+# doconv 0.3.3 (dev version)
+
+## Issues
+
+- Fail with informative error message if PowerShell (PS) execution strategy does not allow
+  running PS scripts. PS scripts are required for certain actions on Windows (#2).
+
 # doconv 0.3.2
 
 ## Features
diff --git a/R/docx2pdf.R b/R/docx2pdf.R
index 29f8073..5393f7f 100644
--- a/R/docx2pdf.R
+++ b/R/docx2pdf.R
@@ -61,10 +61,10 @@ docx2pdf <- function(input, output = gsub("\\.(docx|doc|rtf)$", ".pdf", input))
   }
 }
 
+
 #' @importFrom locatexec is_osx
 #' @importFrom processx run
 docx2pdf_osx <- function(input, output = gsub("\\.(docx|doc|rtf)$", ".pdf", input)){
-
   if (!is_osx()) {
     stop("docx2pdf_osx() should only be used on 'macOS' systems.", call. = FALSE)
   }
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ docx2pdf_osx <- function(input, output = gsub("\\.(docx|doc|rtf)$", ".pdf", inpu
   output
 }
 
+
 #' @importFrom locatexec is_windows
 docx2pdf_win <- function(input, output = gsub("\\.(docx|doc|rtf)$", ".pdf", input)){
 
@@ -120,18 +121,22 @@ docx2pdf_win <- function(input, output = gsub("\\.(docx|doc|rtf)$", ".pdf", inpu
 
   output_name <- file.path(default_root, gsub("\\.(docx|doc|rtf)$", ".pdf", basename(input)))
 
-  script_sourcefile <- system.file(
-    package = "doconv", "scripts", "powershell", "docx2pdf.ps1")
+  script_sourcefile <- system.file(package = "doconv", "scripts", "powershell", "docx2pdf.ps1")
   script_path <- tempfile(fileext = ".ps1")
   script_str <- readLines(script_sourcefile, encoding = "UTF-8")
   script_str[1] <- sprintf(script_str[1], input)
   script_str[2] <- sprintf(script_str[2], output_name)
   writeLines(script_str, script_path, useBytes = TRUE)
-
   res <- run("powershell", args = c("-file", script_path), error_on_status = FALSE)
+
   success <- res$status == 0
 
-  if(success) {
+  # fail with informative error if conversion fails due to PS Execution Policy
+  if (!success && grepl("UnauthorizedAccess", res$stderr)) {
+    stop_on_wrong_ps_exec_policy()
+  }
+
+  if (success) {
     success <- file.copy(from = output_name, to = output, overwrite = TRUE)
   }
 
@@ -140,10 +145,9 @@ docx2pdf_win <- function(input, output = gsub("\\.(docx|doc|rtf)$", ".pdf", inpu
   if(!success) stop("could not convert ", input, res$stderr, call. = FALSE)
 
   output
-
-
 }
 
+
 #' @export
 #' @title Update docx fields
 #' @description Update all fields and table of contents of a
@@ -178,6 +182,7 @@ docx_update <- function(input) {
   invisible(x)
 }
 
+
 docx_update_osx <- function(input){
 
   if (!is_osx()) {
@@ -203,6 +208,8 @@ docx_update_osx <- function(input){
 
   success
 }
+
+
 docx_update_win <- function(input){
 
   if (!is_windows()) {
@@ -227,16 +234,17 @@ docx_update_win <- function(input){
   res <- run("powershell", args = c("-file", script_path), error_on_status = FALSE)
   success <- res$status == 0
 
-  if(!success) stop("could not update ", input, call. = FALSE)
+  # fail with informative error if conversion fails due to PS Execution Policy
+  if (!success && grepl("UnauthorizedAccess", res$stderr)) {
+    stop_on_wrong_ps_exec_policy()
+  }
+
+  if (!success) stop("could not update ", input, call. = FALSE)
 
   success
 }
 
 
-
-
-
-
 #' @export
 #' @title Convert pptx to pdf
 #' @description Convert pptx to pdf directly using "Microsoft PowerPoint".
@@ -290,6 +298,7 @@ pptx2pdf <- function(input, output = gsub("\\.pptx$", ".pdf", input)) {
   }
 }
 
+
 #' @importFrom locatexec is_osx
 #' @importFrom processx run
 pptx2pdf_osx <- function(input, output = gsub("\\.pptx$", ".pdf", input)){
@@ -332,6 +341,7 @@ pptx2pdf_osx <- function(input, output = gsub("\\.pptx$", ".pdf", input)){
   output
 }
 
+
 #' @importFrom locatexec is_windows
 pptx2pdf_win <- function(input, output = gsub("\\.pptx$", ".pdf", input)){
 
@@ -357,10 +367,12 @@ pptx2pdf_win <- function(input, output = gsub("\\.pptx$", ".pdf", input)){
   res <- run("powershell", args = c("-file", script_path), error_on_status = FALSE)
   success <- res$status == 0
 
-  if(!success) stop("could not convert ", input, call. = FALSE)
-
-  success
+  # fail with informative error if conversion fails due to PS Execution Policy
+  if (!success && grepl("UnauthorizedAccess", res$stderr)) {
+    stop_on_wrong_ps_exec_policy()
+  }
 
+  if(!success) stop("could not convert ", input, call. = FALSE)
 
+  output
 }
-
diff --git a/R/expect_snapshot_doc.R b/R/expect_snapshot_doc.R
index 28e80eb..022bb38 100644
--- a/R/expect_snapshot_doc.R
+++ b/R/expect_snapshot_doc.R
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ expect_snapshot_doc <- function(
 
 }
 
+
 #' @title Visual test for an HTML document
 #' @description This expectation can be used with 'tinytest' and 'testthat'
 #' to check if a current document of type HTML
diff --git a/R/to_pdf.R b/R/to_pdf.R
index 9807b05..ef8696a 100644
--- a/R/to_pdf.R
+++ b/R/to_pdf.R
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ check_libreoffice_export <- function(UserInstallation = NULL) {
                "--outdir", default_root,
                input),
       error_on_status = FALSE,
-      timeout = 15
+      timeout = 45
       )
   success <- res$status == 0
 
diff --git a/R/utils.R b/R/utils.R
index 025ffeb..e00cb11 100644
--- a/R/utils.R
+++ b/R/utils.R
@@ -145,3 +145,22 @@ images_to_miniature <- function(img_list, row = NULL, width = 650,
   img_stack
 }
 
+# get PS exec policy
+ps_execution_policy <- function() {
+  res <- run("powershell", args = c("Get-ExecutionPolicy"), error_on_status = FALSE)
+  policy <- gsub("\\s+", "", res$stdout)
+  policy
+}
+
+
+# check if policy allows PS script execution. If not advise user.
+stop_on_wrong_ps_exec_policy <- function() {
+  policy <- ps_execution_policy()
+  stop("Conversion failed.\n",
+    "Your PowerShell execution policy '", policy, "' prevents script execution.\n",
+    "Run one of the following commands in PS as admin to enable script execution: \n",
+    "  `Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass`\n",
+    "  `Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted`\n",
+    call. = FALSE
+  )
+}