Handle Caching on Continuous Availability Shares
Verified with Windows 11 25H2 — updated on July 30, 2026
Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
Path in the GPO console
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Network\Lanman Workstation Description
This policy setting determines the behavior of SMB handle caching for clients connecting to an SMB share where the Continuous Availability (CA) flag is enabled. If you enable this policy setting, the SMB client will allow cached handles to files on CA shares. This may lead to better performance when repeatedly accessing a large number of unstructured data files on CA shares running in Microsoft Azure Files. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, Windows will prevent use of cached handles to files opened through CA shares. Note: This policy has no effect when connecting Scale-out File Server shares provided by a Windows Server. Microsoft does not recommend enabling this policy for clients that routinely connect to files hosted on a Windows Failover Cluster with the File Server for General Use role, as it can lead to adverse failover times and increased memory and CPU usage.
Registry
Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\LanmanWorkstation Value name: EnableHandleCachingForCAFiles
Enabled: EnableHandleCachingForCAFiles = 1
Disabled: EnableHandleCachingForCAFiles = 0
MDM / Intune (CSP)
./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_LanmanWorkstation/Pol_EnableHandleCachingForCAFiles 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: Handle Caching on Continuous Availability Shares
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\LanmanWorkstation]
"EnableHandleCachingForCAFiles"=dword:00000001More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Handle Caching on Continuous Availability Shares
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\LanmanWorkstation'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'EnableHandleCachingForCAFiles' -Value 1 -Type DWordIntune XML
OMA-URI: ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_LanmanWorkstation/Pol_EnableHandleCachingForCAFiles
Data type: String
Value:
<enabled/>Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Handle Caching on Continuous Availability Shares
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
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
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\LanmanWorkstation' -Name 'EnableHandleCachingForCAFiles' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Handle Caching on Continuous Availability Shares
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\LanmanWorkstation'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'EnableHandleCachingForCAFiles' -Value 1 -Type DWordSCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Handle Caching on Continuous Availability Shares
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
# 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: Handle Caching on Continuous Availability Shares
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
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
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\LanmanWorkstation' -Name 'EnableHandleCachingForCAFiles' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Handle Caching on Continuous Availability Shares
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows Server 2016, Windows 10
$path = 'HKLM:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\LanmanWorkstation'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'EnableHandleCachingForCAFiles' -Value 1 -Type DWordBuilding a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.