Stop indexing in the event of limited hard drive space: registry value PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMBComputerHKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search

Policy ID: StopIndexingOnLimitedHardDriveSpace
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 or later
Source: Administrative Templates (.admx) for Windows 11 2026 Update (26H2) (version 1.0)
Category: Windows Components › Search

Registry

PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMB

REG_DWORDComputer

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search Current key

Enabled value: Depends on the option value
Element: MB Limit
Value type: REG_DWORD
Maximum value: 2147483647

Apply with .reg · CMD · PowerShell

.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search]

; Value names and types follow the ADMX. Replace <enter value> below with your own data
"PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMB"=dword:<enter value>

CMD

:: Value names and types follow the ADMX. Replace <enter value> below with your own data

reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search" /v "PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMB" /t REG_DWORD /d "<enter value>" /f

PowerShell

# Value names and types follow the ADMX. Replace <enter value> below with your own data

New-Item -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search' -Force | Out-Null
New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search' -Name 'PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMB' -PropertyType DWord -Value '<enter value>' -Force | Out-Null