Register protocol handlers

Computer and userIntune-readyRegisteredProtocolHandlers_recommended

Supported on Microsoft Edge version 77, Windows 7 or later

155.0.4283.62

What it does

Set this policy (recommended only) to register a list of protocol handlers. This list is merged with ones registered by the user and both are available to use. To register a protocol handler: - Set the protocol property to the scheme (for example, "mailto") - Set the URL property to the URL property of the application that handlers the scheme specified in the "protocol" field. The pattern can include a "%s" placeholder, which the handled URL replaces. Users can't remove a protocol handler registered by this policy. However, they can install a new default protocol handler to override the existing protocol handlers. In the examples in this section, the URL points to the Outlook on the Web (OWA) endpoint used in Exchange Online. If you're targeting Exchange Server (on-premises), use the following URL and replace mail.contoso.com with your organization's OWA endpoint: https://mail.contoso.com/?path=/mail/action/compose&mailtouri=%s Example value: [ { "default": true, "protocol": "mailto", "url": "https://outlook.office.com/mail/deeplink/compose?to=%s" } ]

What it writes

Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Registry key: Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\Recommended

Options

Option	Type	Registry value	Allowed values
Register protocol handlers	Text	`RegisteredProtocolHandlers`	Up to 1000000 characters

Configure and deploy

Choose a state and the option values; the output below is generated from the template for exactly that.

Enabled · Computer · template defaults

Registry file (.reg)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\Recommended]
"RegisteredProtocolHandlers"=""

PowerShell

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

function Set-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $PropertyType,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Value
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        New-Item -Path $Path -Force | Out-Null
    }

    New-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -PropertyType $PropertyType -Value $Value -Force | Out-Null
}

function Remove-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

function Clear-RegistryKeyValues {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return
    }

    foreach ($propertyName in (Get-Item -LiteralPath $Path).Property) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $propertyName -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

# Policy: Register protocol handlers
# Name: RegisteredProtocolHandlers_recommended
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: msedge.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\Recommended' -Name 'RegisteredProtocolHandlers' -PropertyType 'String' -Value ''

The OMA-URI is an inferred ADMX-backed Policy CSP candidate derived from the source ADMX file name and policy name.
Some Microsoft policies use built-in Policy CSP pages whose area names don't match the ADMX file name, so verify the candidate against Microsoft Learn before deployment.
The generated payload is incomplete because one or more ADMX element values were not supplied: RegisteredProtocolHandlers

ADMX profile candidate (OMA-URI)

./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_msedge/RegisteredProtocolHandlers_recommended

Intune remediation scripts

Detection

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
$reasons = [System.Collections.Generic.List[string]]::new()

function Test-RegistryValueExists {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return $false
    }

    return $null -ne (Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue)
}

function Test-RegistryValueEquals {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Kind,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Expected
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return $false
    }

    $valueObject = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    if ($null -eq $valueObject) {
        return $false
    }

    $actual = $valueObject.$Name
    switch ($Kind) {
        'String' { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
        'ExpandString' { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
        'DWord' { return [uint32]$actual -eq [uint32]$Expected }
        'QWord' { return [uint64]$actual -eq [uint64]$Expected }
        'MultiString' {
            $actualArray = @($actual)
            $expectedArray = @($Expected)
            if ($actualArray.Count -ne $expectedArray.Count) { return $false }
            for ($index = 0; $index -lt $actualArray.Count; $index++) {
                if ([string]$actualArray[$index] -cne [string]$expectedArray[$index]) { return $false }
            }
            return $true
        }
        'Binary' {
            $actualArray = [byte[]]$actual
            $expectedArray = [byte[]]$Expected
            if ($actualArray.Length -ne $expectedArray.Length) { return $false }
            for ($index = 0; $index -lt $actualArray.Length; $index++) {
                if ($actualArray[$index] -ne $expectedArray[$index]) { return $false }
            }
            return $true
        }
        default { return [string]$actual -ceq [string]$Expected }
    }
}

# Policy: Register protocol handlers
# Name: RegisteredProtocolHandlers_recommended
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: msedge.admx

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\Recommended' -Name 'RegisteredProtocolHandlers' -Kind 'String' -Expected ''
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\Recommended\RegisteredProtocolHandlers') | Out-Null
}

if ($reasons.Count -eq 0) {
    Write-Output 'Compliant'
    exit 0
}

$reasons | ForEach-Object { Write-Output $_ }
exit 1

Remediation

$ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'

function Set-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $PropertyType,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][object] $Value
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        New-Item -Path $Path -Force | Out-Null
    }

    New-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -PropertyType $PropertyType -Value $Value -Force | Out-Null
}

function Remove-RegistryValue {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path,
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Name
    )

    if (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

function Clear-RegistryKeyValues {
    param(
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string] $Path
    )

    if (-not (Test-Path -LiteralPath $Path)) {
        return
    }

    foreach ($propertyName in (Get-Item -LiteralPath $Path).Property) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $propertyName -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
}

# Policy: Register protocol handlers
# Name: RegisteredProtocolHandlers_recommended
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: msedge.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\Recommended' -Name 'RegisteredProtocolHandlers' -PropertyType 'String' -Value ''

History 37 retained releases

150.0.4078.8016 Jul 2026
- Already present in the first release ChangeIntel keeps.

36 later releases left it unchanged.

Template

Internal name: RegisteredProtocolHandlers_recommended
Namespace: Microsoft.Policies.Edge
Template file: msedge.admx
Release: Microsoft Edge 155.0.4283.62 · file set 0a733b0040dbbf02…

Definition, editor controls and support

Definition

<policy class="Both" displayName="$(string.RegisteredProtocolHandlers)" explainText="$(string.RegisteredProtocolHandlers_Explain)" key="Software\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\Recommended" name="RegisteredProtocolHandlers_recommended" presentation="$(presentation.RegisteredProtocolHandlers)" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:ContentSettings_recommended" />
      <supportedOn ref="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:SUPPORTED_WIN7_V77" />
      <elements>
        <text id="RegisteredProtocolHandlers" maxLength="1000000" valueName="RegisteredProtocolHandlers" />
      </elements>
    </policy>

Editor controls

<presentation id="RegisteredProtocolHandlers" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions"><textBox refId="RegisteredProtocolHandlers"><label>Register protocol handlers</label></textBox></presentation>

Supported platforms and category

Microsoft.Policies.Edge:category:ContentSettings_recommended
<category displayName="$(string.ContentSettings_group)" name="ContentSettings_recommended" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:microsoft_edge_recommended" />
    </category>
Microsoft.Policies.Edge:category:microsoft_edge_recommended
<category displayName="$(string.microsoft_edge_recommended)" name="microsoft_edge_recommended" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
Microsoft.Policies.Edge:definition:SUPPORTED_WIN7_V77
<definition displayName="$(string.SUPPORTED_WIN7_V77)" name="SUPPORTED_WIN7_V77" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
Microsoft.Policies.Edge:category:ContentSettings_recommended
<category displayName="$(string.ContentSettings_group)" name="ContentSettings_recommended" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:microsoft_edge_recommended" />
    </category>
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:ContentSettings_group">Content settings</string></strings>
Microsoft.Policies.Edge:category:microsoft_edge_recommended
<category displayName="$(string.microsoft_edge_recommended)" name="microsoft_edge_recommended" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:microsoft_edge_recommended">Microsoft Edge - Default Settings (users can override)</string></strings>
Microsoft.Policies.Edge:definition:SUPPORTED_WIN7_V77
<definition displayName="$(string.SUPPORTED_WIN7_V77)" name="SUPPORTED_WIN7_V77" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Edge:SUPPORTED_WIN7_V77">Microsoft Edge version 77, Windows 7 or later</string></strings>