Windows Components › Search
Stop indexing in the event of limited hard drive space
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
| Option | Type | Registry value | Allowed 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.
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/StopIndexingOnLimitedHardDriveSpaceIntune 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 $propertyName -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
}
}
# Policy: Stop indexing in the event of limited hard drive space
# Name: StopIndexingOnLimitedHardDriveSpace
# Scope: Machine
# State: Enabled
# Source: Search.admx
Set-RegistryValue -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search' -Name 'PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMB' -PropertyType 'DWord' -Value 1
History 5 retained releases
- 22H2 · 1.015 Jul 2024
- Already present in the first release ChangeIntel keeps.
4 later releases left it unchanged.
Template
- Internal name
StopIndexingOnLimitedHardDriveSpace- Namespace
FullArmor.Policies.3B9EA2B5_A1D1_4CD5_9EDE_75B22990BC21- Template file
Search.admx- Release
- Windows 11 25H2 · 1.0 · file set
de4e49983ebd651f…
Definition, editor controls and support
Definition
<policy class="Machine" clientExtension="{7933F41E-56F8-41d6-A31C-4148A711EE93}" displayName="$(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>