Add primary intranet search location

ComputerIntune-readyAddPrimaryIntranetSearchScope

Supported on Microsoft Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003 with Windows Search version 3.01 or later

23H2 · 1.0

What it does

Enabling this policy allows you to add a primary intranet search location within Windows Desktop Search. The value of this text should be: name,url For example: Intranet,http://intranetsearch.aspx?k=$w You must provide the following: 1) A name for the scope, such as 'Intranet'. 2) The URL to the search service. Use $w in place of the query term for the search service URL. If your intranet search service is SharePoint Portal Server, your query should resemble the following: http://sitename/Search.aspx?k=$w If your intranet search service is Windows SharePoint Services (WSS), the query should resemble the following, where XXXX is the locale ID of your WSS Service. For example, the English locale ID is 1033. http://sitename/_layouts/XXXX/searchresults.aspx?SearchString=$w This adds intranet search location to: 1) The Windows Deskbar 2) The Desktop Search results search box 3) The WDS search box in Search Companion

What it writes

Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Registry key: SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search

In Intune

No native CSP; import the ADMX (Intune-ready).

From Microsoft's Policy CSP DDF files (DDF v2 Files, February 2026), read 18 Oct 2026.

Options

Option	Type	Registry value	Allowed values
Intranet Search Scope UrlDefault:	Text	`PrimaryIntranetSearchScopeUrl`	Up to 255 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\Windows\Windows Search]
"PrimaryIntranetSearchScopeUrl"=""

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: Add primary intranet search location
# Name: AddPrimaryIntranetSearchScope
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: Search.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search' -Name 'PrimaryIntranetSearchScopeUrl' -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.

ADMX profile candidate (OMA-URI)

./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_Search/AddPrimaryIntranetSearchScope

ADMX SyncML candidate

<SyncML xmlns="SYNCML:SYNCML1.2">
  <SyncBody>
    <Replace>
      <CmdID>1</CmdID>
      <Item>
        <Meta>
          <Format>chr</Format>
          <Type>text/plain</Type>
        </Meta>
        <Target>
          <LocURI>./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_Search/AddPrimaryIntranetSearchScope</LocURI>
        </Target>
        <Data>&lt;enabled/&gt;
&lt;data id="PrimaryIntranetSearchScopeUrl" value=""/&gt;</Data>
      </Item>
    </Replace>
    <Final/>
  </SyncBody>
</SyncML>

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: Add primary intranet search location
# Name: AddPrimaryIntranetSearchScope
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: Search.admx

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search' -Name 'PrimaryIntranetSearchScopeUrl' -Kind 'String' -Expected ''
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search\PrimaryIntranetSearchScopeUrl') | 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: Add primary intranet search location
# Name: AddPrimaryIntranetSearchScope
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: Search.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search' -Name 'PrimaryIntranetSearchScopeUrl' -PropertyType 'String' -Value ''

History 3 retained releases

22H2 · 1.015 Jul 2024
- Already present in the first release ChangeIntel keeps.

2 later releases left it unchanged.

Template

Internal name: AddPrimaryIntranetSearchScope
Namespace: FullArmor.Policies.3B9EA2B5_A1D1_4CD5_9EDE_75B22990BC21
Template file: Search.admx
Release: Windows 11 23H2 · 1.0 · file set d784d0ea5f14a680…

Definition, editor controls and support

Definition

<policy class="Machine" displayName="$(string.AddPrimaryIntranetSearchScope)" explainText="$(string.AddPrimaryIntranetSearchScope_Explain)" key="SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search" name="AddPrimaryIntranetSearchScope" presentation="$(presentation.AddPrimaryIntranetSearchScope)" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="FullArmor.Policies.3B9EA2B5_A1D1_4CD5_9EDE_75B22990BC21:Search" />
      <supportedOn ref="FullArmor.Policies.3B9EA2B5_A1D1_4CD5_9EDE_75B22990BC21:RedistOnly" />
      <elements>
        <text id="PrimaryIntranetSearchScopeUrl" valueName="PrimaryIntranetSearchScopeUrl" />
      </elements>
    </policy>

Editor controls

<presentation id="AddPrimaryIntranetSearchScope" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
        <textBox refId="PrimaryIntranetSearchScopeUrl">
          <label>Intranet Search Scope Url</label>
          <defaultValue />
        </textBox>
      </presentation>

Supported platforms and category

FullArmor.Policies.3B9EA2B5_A1D1_4CD5_9EDE_75B22990BC21:category:Search
<category displayName="$(string.Search)" name="Search" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:WindowsComponents" />
    </category>
FullArmor.Policies.3B9EA2B5_A1D1_4CD5_9EDE_75B22990BC21:definition:RedistOnly
<definition displayName="$(string.RedistOnly)" name="RedistOnly" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:WindowsComponents
<category displayName="$(string.WindowsComponents)" explainText="$(string.WindowsComponents_Help)" name="WindowsComponents" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
FullArmor.Policies.3B9EA2B5_A1D1_4CD5_9EDE_75B22990BC21:category:Search
<category displayName="$(string.Search)" name="Search" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:WindowsComponents" />
    </category>
<strings><string id="FullArmor.Policies.3B9EA2B5_A1D1_4CD5_9EDE_75B22990BC21:Search">Search</string></strings>
FullArmor.Policies.3B9EA2B5_A1D1_4CD5_9EDE_75B22990BC21:definition:RedistOnly
<definition displayName="$(string.RedistOnly)" name="RedistOnly" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="FullArmor.Policies.3B9EA2B5_A1D1_4CD5_9EDE_75B22990BC21:RedistOnly">Microsoft Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003 with Windows Search version 3.01 or later</string></strings>
Microsoft.Policies.Windows:category:WindowsComponents
<category displayName="$(string.WindowsComponents)" explainText="$(string.WindowsComponents_Help)" name="WindowsComponents" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:WindowsComponents">Windows Components</string><string id="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:WindowsComponents_Help">Contains settings for operating system components.</string></strings>