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Windows 11 Group Policy settings

3,503 settings · 23H2 · 1.0 · 15 Jul 2024

1 folder · 44 settingsCSV
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Windows Components › Search

Stop indexing in the event of limited hard drive space

ComputerNative Intune settingStopIndexingOnLimitedHardDriveSpace

Supported on Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 with Windows Search version 3.01, or any version of Microsoft Windows with Windows Search 4.0 or later

What it does

Enabling this policy prevents indexing from continuing after less than the specified amount of hard drive space is left on the same drive as the index location. Select between 0 and 2147483647 MB. Enable this policy if computers in your environment have extremely limited hard drive space. When this policy is disabled or not configured, Windows Desktop Search automatically manages your index size.

What it writes

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

In Intune

Native Intune setting: Yes — Policy CSP

  • ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/Search/PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMBSearch on Microsoft LearnWindows builds listed: 10.0.14393.

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

Options

OptionTypeRegistry valueAllowed values
MB Limit Number PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMB 0 to 2147483647

Configure and deploy

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

State
Options used when Enabled

Enabled · Computer · template defaults

Registry file (.reg)

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search]
"PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMB"=dword:00000001


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: Stop indexing in the event of limited hard drive space
# Name: StopIndexingOnLimitedHardDriveSpace
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: Search.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search' -Name 'PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMB' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 1

These deployment candidates come from the ADMX template; they are separate from the native CSP mapping above.

  • 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: StopIndexingOnLimitedHardDriveSpace_MBLimit

ADMX profile candidate (OMA-URI)

./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_Search/StopIndexingOnLimitedHardDriveSpace
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: Stop indexing in the event of limited hard drive space
# Name: StopIndexingOnLimitedHardDriveSpace
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: Search.admx

$isMatch = Test-RegistryValueEquals -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search' -Name 'PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMB' -Kind 'DWord' -Expected 1
if (-not $isMatch) {
    $reasons.Add('Value mismatch: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search\PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMB') | 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: Stop indexing in the event of limited hard drive space
# Name: StopIndexingOnLimitedHardDriveSpace
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: Search.admx

Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search' -Name 'PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMB' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 1

History 3 retained releases

  1. 22H2 · 1.015 Jul 2024
    • Already present in the first release ChangeIntel keeps.

2 later releases left it unchanged.

Template

Internal name
StopIndexingOnLimitedHardDriveSpace
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" clientExtension="{7933F41E-56F8-41d6-A31C-4148A711EE93}" displayName="$(string.StopIndexingOnLimitedHardDriveSpace)" explainText="$(string.StopIndexingOnLimitedHardDriveSpace_Explain)" key="SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search" name="StopIndexingOnLimitedHardDriveSpace" presentation="$(presentation.StopIndexingOnLimitedHardDriveSpace)" 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_75B22990BC21:301OrLater" />
      <elements>
        <decimal id="StopIndexingOnLimitedHardDriveSpace_MBLimit" maxValue="2147483647" valueName="PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMB" />
      </elements>
    </policy>

Editor controls

<presentation id="StopIndexingOnLimitedHardDriveSpace" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
        <decimalTextBox refId="StopIndexingOnLimitedHardDriveSpace_MBLimit">MB Limit</decimalTextBox>
      </presentation>

Supported platforms and category

FullArmor.Policies.3B9EA2B5_A1D1_4CD5_9EDE_75B22990BC21:category:Search
<category displayName="$(string.Search)" name="Search" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:WindowsComponents" />
    </category>
FullArmor.Policies.3B9EA2B5_A1D1_4CD5_9EDE_75B22990BC21:definition:301OrLater
<definition displayName="$(string.301OrLater)" name="301OrLater" 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="$(string.Search)" name="Search" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions">
      <parentCategory ref="Microsoft.Policies.Windows:WindowsComponents" />
    </category>
<strings><string id="FullArmor.Policies.3B9EA2B5_A1D1_4CD5_9EDE_75B22990BC21:Search">Search</string></strings>
FullArmor.Policies.3B9EA2B5_A1D1_4CD5_9EDE_75B22990BC21:definition:301OrLater
<definition displayName="$(string.301OrLater)" name="301OrLater" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/GroupPolicy/2006/07/PolicyDefinitions" />
<strings><string id="FullArmor.Policies.3B9EA2B5_A1D1_4CD5_9EDE_75B22990BC21:301OrLater">Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 with Windows Search version 3.01, or any version of Microsoft Windows with Windows Search 4.0 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>
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Sources read 18 Oct 16:05 UTC · 253 of 255 readable · 252 fully read · documentation 0/410 current