Allow use of diacritics
Verified with Windows 11 25H2 — updated on July 30, 2026
Supported on: Microsoft Windows Vista, or any version of Windows with Windows Search 3.01 or later
Path in the GPO console
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Search Description
This policy setting allows words that contain diacritic characters to be treated as separate words. If you enable this policy setting, words that only differ in diacritics are treated as different words. If you disable this policy setting, words with diacritics and words without diacritics are treated as identical words. This policy setting is not configured by default. If you do not configure this policy setting, the local setting, configured through Control Panel, will be used. Note: By default, the Control Panel setting is set to treat words that differ only because of diacritics as the same word.
Registry
HKLM
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search Value name: AllowUsingDiacritics
Enabled: AllowUsingDiacritics = 1
Disabled: AllowUsingDiacritics = 0
MDM / Intune (CSP)
./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/Search/AllowUsingDiacritics Microsoft Learn documentation Mapping data: Microsoft Learn (CC BY 4.0)
CSP values
-
0 (Default)- Not allowed. -
1- Allowed.
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: Allow use of diacritics
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: Microsoft Windows Vista, or any version of Windows with Windows Search 3.01 or later
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search]
"AllowUsingDiacritics"=dword:00000001More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Allow use of diacritics
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: Microsoft Windows Vista, or any version of Windows with Windows Search 3.01 or later
$path = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'AllowUsingDiacritics' -Value 1 -Type DWordIntune XML
OMA-URI: ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/Search/AllowUsingDiacritics
Data type: String
Value:
<enabled/>Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Allow use of diacritics
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: Microsoft Windows Vista, or any version of Windows with Windows Search 3.01 or later
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
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search' -Name 'AllowUsingDiacritics' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Allow use of diacritics
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: Microsoft Windows Vista, or any version of Windows with Windows Search 3.01 or later
$path = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'AllowUsingDiacritics' -Value 1 -Type DWordSCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Allow use of diacritics
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: Microsoft Windows Vista, or any version of Windows with Windows Search 3.01 or later
# 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: Allow use of diacritics
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: Microsoft Windows Vista, or any version of Windows with Windows Search 3.01 or later
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
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search' -Name 'AllowUsingDiacritics' -Expected 1 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Allow use of diacritics
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: Microsoft Windows Vista, or any version of Windows with Windows Search 3.01 or later
$path = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'AllowUsingDiacritics' -Value 1 -Type DWordBuilding a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.