Stop indexing in the event of limited hard drive space
Verified with Windows 11 25H2 — updated on July 30, 2026
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
Path in the GPO console
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Search Description
Enabling this policy prevents indexing from continuing after less than the specified amount of hard drive space is left on the same drive as the index location. Select between 0 and 2147483647 MB. Enable this policy if computers in your environment have extremely limited hard drive space. When this policy is disabled or not configured, Windows Desktop Search automatically manages your index size.
Registry
HKLM
SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search MDM / Intune (CSP)
./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/Search/PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMB Microsoft Learn documentation Mapping data: Microsoft Learn (CC BY 4.0)
CSP values
-
0- Disable. -
1 (Default)- Enable.
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: Stop indexing in the event of limited hard drive space
; State: Enabled
; 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
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search]
"PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMB"=dword:00000000More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Stop indexing in the event of limited hard drive space
# State: Enabled
# 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
$path = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMB' -Value 0 -Type DWordIntune XML
OMA-URI: ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/Search/PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMB
Data type: String
Value:
<enabled/>
<data id="StopIndexingOnLimitedHardDriveSpace_MBLimit" value="0"/>Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Stop indexing in the event of limited hard drive space
# State: Enabled
# 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
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
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search' -Name 'PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMB' -Expected 0 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Stop indexing in the event of limited hard drive space
# State: Enabled
# 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
$path = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMB' -Value 0 -Type DWordSCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Stop indexing in the event of limited hard drive space
# State: Enabled
# 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
# 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: Stop indexing in the event of limited hard drive space
# State: Enabled
# 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
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
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search' -Name 'PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMB' -Expected 0 -Kind DWord)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Stop indexing in the event of limited hard drive space
# State: Enabled
# 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
$path = 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'PreventIndexingLowDiskSpaceMB' -Value 0 -Type DWordBuilding a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.