Short name creation options
Verified with Windows 11 25H2 — updated on July 30, 2026
Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
Path in the GPO console
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\File System\NTFS Description
These settings provide control over whether or not short names are generated during file creation. Some applications require short names for compatibility, but short names have a negative performance impact on the system. If you enable short names on all volumes then short names will always be generated. If you disable them on all volumes then they will never be generated. If you set short name creation to be configurable on a per volume basis then an on-disk flag will determine whether or not short names are created on a given volume. If you disable short name creation on all data volumes then short names will only be generated for files created on the system volume.
Registry
System\CurrentControlSet\Policies MDM / Intune (CSP)
./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_FileSys/ShortNameCreationSettings 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: Short name creation options
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Policies]
"NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation"=dword:00000002 More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Short name creation options
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
$path = 'HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Policies'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation' -Value 2 -Type DWord Intune XML
OMA-URI: ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_FileSys/ShortNameCreationSettings
Data type: String
Value:
<enabled/>
<data id="ShortNameCreationSetting_Levels" value="2"/> Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Short name creation options
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
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
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Policies' -Name 'NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation' -Expected 2 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Short name creation options
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
$path = 'HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Policies'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation' -Value 2 -Type DWord SCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Short name creation options
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
# 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: Short name creation options
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
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
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Policies' -Name 'NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation' -Expected 2 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Short name creation options
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
$path = 'HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Policies'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation' -Value 2 -Type DWord Building a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.