Turn off smart multi-homed name resolution
Verified with Windows 11 25H2 — updated on July 30, 2026
Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
Path in the GPO console
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Network\DNS Client Description
Specifies that a multi-homed DNS client should optimize name resolution across networks. The setting improves performance by issuing parallel DNS, link local multicast name resolution (LLMNR) and NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT) queries across all networks. In the event that multiple positive responses are received, the network binding order is used to determine which response to accept. If you enable this policy setting, the DNS client will not perform any optimizations. DNS queries will be issued across all networks first. LLMNR queries will be issued if the DNS queries fail, followed by NetBT queries if LLMNR queries fail. If you disable this policy setting, or if you do not configure this policy setting, name resolution will be optimized when issuing DNS, LLMNR and NetBT queries.
Registry
Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\DNSClient Value name: DisableSmartNameResolution
Enabled: DisableSmartNameResolution = 1
Disabled: DisableSmartNameResolution = 0
MDM / Intune (CSP)
./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_DnsClient/DNS_SmartMultiHomedNameResolution Microsoft Learn documentation Mapping data: Microsoft Learn (CC BY 4.0)
Export Builder
BETAConfigure the state, scope and options, then generate .reg, PowerShell, Intune and SCCM outputs — or add the setting to a multi-setting collection.
These exports write the registry — this is not a managed GPO. ⓘ
.reg file
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; Exported from gporais.com
; Policy: Turn off smart multi-homed name resolution
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\DNSClient]
"DisableSmartNameResolution"=dword:00000001More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Turn off smart multi-homed name resolution
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\DNSClient'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'DisableSmartNameResolution' -Value 1 -Type DWordIntune XML
OMA-URI: ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_DnsClient/DNS_SmartMultiHomedNameResolution
Data type: String
Value:
<enabled/>Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Turn off smart multi-homed name resolution
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\DNSClient' -Name 'DisableSmartNameResolution' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Turn off smart multi-homed name resolution
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\DNSClient'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'DisableSmartNameResolution' -Value 1 -Type DWordSCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Turn off smart multi-homed name resolution
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
# SCCM Configuration Item guidance:
# Create a Configuration Item of type "Setting: Script".
# Discovery script: use the Detection script below.
# Remediation script: use the Remediation script below.
# Compliance rule: the Discovery script output equals 'Compliant'.
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Turn off smart multi-homed name resolution
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\DNSClient' -Name 'DisableSmartNameResolution' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Turn off smart multi-homed name resolution
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 or Windows RT
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\DNSClient'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'DisableSmartNameResolution' -Value 1 -Type DWordBuilding a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.