diff --git a/apps/files/lib/Controller/ViewController.php b/apps/files/lib/Controller/ViewController.php
index 4dd9f4141e26c..2c2420407310b 100644
--- a/apps/files/lib/Controller/ViewController.php
+++ b/apps/files/lib/Controller/ViewController.php
@@ -194,6 +194,7 @@ public function index($dir = '', $view = '', $fileid = null, $fileNotFound = fal
 			$this->eventDispatcher->dispatchTyped(new LoadViewer());
 		}
 
+		$this->initialState->provideInitialState('templates_enabled', ($this->config->getSystemValueString('skeletondirectory', '') !== '') || ($this->config->getSystemValueString('templatedirectory', '') !== ''));
 		$this->initialState->provideInitialState('templates_path', $this->templateManager->hasTemplateDirectory() ? $this->templateManager->getTemplatePath() : false);
 		$this->initialState->provideInitialState('templates', $this->templateManager->listCreators());
 
diff --git a/apps/files/src/newMenu/newTemplatesFolder.ts b/apps/files/src/newMenu/newTemplatesFolder.ts
index 43a6f08b52597..bf6862bda0806 100644
--- a/apps/files/src/newMenu/newTemplatesFolder.ts
+++ b/apps/files/src/newMenu/newTemplatesFolder.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@ import PlusSvg from '@mdi/svg/svg/plus.svg?raw'
 import axios from '@nextcloud/axios'
 import logger from '../logger.ts'
 
+const templatesEnabled = loadState<boolean>('files', 'templates_enabled', true)
 let templatesPath = loadState<string|false>('files', 'templates_path', false)
+logger.debug('Templates folder enabled', { templatesEnabled })
 logger.debug('Initial templates folder', { templatesPath })
 
 /**
@@ -57,8 +59,8 @@ export const entry = {
 	iconSvgInline: PlusSvg,
 	order: 30,
 	enabled(context: Folder): boolean {
-		// Templates folder already initialized
-		if (templatesPath) {
+		// Templates disabled or templates folder already initialized
+		if (!templatesEnabled || templatesPath) {
 			return false
 		}
 		// Allow creation on your own folders only
diff --git a/config/config.sample.php b/config/config.sample.php
index d5d88b71e4af1..454a2b15cb3be 100644
--- a/config/config.sample.php
+++ b/config/config.sample.php
@@ -288,8 +288,9 @@
 
 /**
  * The directory where the skeleton files are located. These files will be
- * copied to the data directory of new users. Leave empty to not copy any
- * skeleton files.
+ * copied to the data directory of new users. Set empty string to not copy any
+ * skeleton files. If unset and templatedirectory is empty string, shipped
+ * templates will be used to create a template directory for the user.
  * ``{lang}`` can be used as a placeholder for the language of the user.
  * If the directory does not exist, it falls back to non dialect (from ``de_DE``
  * to ``de``). If that does not exist either, it falls back to ``default``
@@ -298,18 +299,16 @@
  */
 'skeletondirectory' => '/path/to/nextcloud/core/skeleton',
 
-
 /**
  * The directory where the template files are located. These files will be
- * copied to the template directory of new users. Leave empty to not copy any
+ * copied to the template directory of new users. Set empty string to not copy any
  * template files.
  * ``{lang}`` can be used as a placeholder for the language of the user.
  * If the directory does not exist, it falls back to non dialect (from ``de_DE``
  * to ``de``). If that does not exist either, it falls back to ``default``
  *
- * If this is not set creating a template directory will only happen if no custom
- * ``skeletondirectory`` is defined, otherwise the shipped templates will be used
- * to create a template directory for the user.
+ * To disable creating a template directory, set both skeletondirectory and
+ * templatedirectory to empty strings.
  */
 'templatedirectory' => '/path/to/nextcloud/templates',