Prevent indexing certain paths: registry value PreventIndexingCertainPaths_1 (HKLM PreventIndexingCertainPaths)ComputerHKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search\PreventIndexingCertainPaths

Policy ID: PreventIndexingCertainPaths_1
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

(list values)

REG_SZComputer

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

Enabled value: Depends on the option value
Element: Prevent Indexing Certain Paths
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\PreventIndexingCertainPaths]
"<enter value>"="<enter value>"

CMD

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

PowerShell

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