Following the death of De Klerck, on 1 September 1780, he was chosen by the Dutch Council of the Indies as provisional Governor-General.

[citation needed] De Klerck had wanted to bring the use of Dutch into the educational system, but Alting revoked this in 1786, so that Malay and Portuguese were once again used.

Alting's term of office was marked by a steep decline of the Dutch East India Company and its power in the Indies.

On 17 February 1797, Willem Arnold Alting resigned as Governor-General and Commissioner-General and handed the post over to Pieter Gerardus van Overstraten.

Alting remained as an ordinary citizen, without official position, living on his estate at Kampong Melajoe near Batavia.