Prevent unwanted iFilters and protocol handlers: registry value PreventUnwantedAddins (Windows Search)ComputerHKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search
- Policy ID
- PreventUnwantedAddins
- Scope
- Computer Configuration
- 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
- Source
- Administrative Templates (.admx) for Windows 11 2026 Update (26H2) (version 1.0)
- Category
- Windows Components › Search
Registry
(list values)
REG_SZComputer- Enabled value
- Depends on the option value
- Element
- Allow List
- Value type
- REG_SZ
Apply with .reg · CMD · PowerShell
.reg
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search\PreventUnwantedAddins] "<enter value>"="<enter value>"
CMD
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search\PreventUnwantedAddins" /v "<enter value>" /t REG_SZ /d "<enter value>" /f
PowerShell
New-Item -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search\PreventUnwantedAddins' -Force | Out-Null New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search\PreventUnwantedAddins' -Name '<enter value>' -PropertyType String -Value '<enter value>' -Force | Out-Null