Policy
Maximum size of Active Directory searches
Microsoft Windows
Policy overview
Key metadata and intent for this policy.
Supported OS tags: Windows10, Windows10RT, Windows11, Windows2000, Windows7, Windows8, Windows81, WindowsRT, WindowsRT81, WindowsServer2003, WindowsServer2008, WindowsServer2012, WindowsServer2012R2, WindowsServer2016, WindowsVista, WindowsXP
Specifies the maximum number of objects the system displays in response to a command to browse or search Active Directory. This setting affects all browse displays associated with Active Directory, such as those in Local Users and Groups, Active Directory Users and Computers, and dialog boxes used to set permissions for user or group objects in Active Directory. If you enable this setting, you can use the "Number of objects returned" box to limit returns from an Active Directory search. If you disable this setting or do not configure it, the system displays up to 10,000 objects. This consumes approximately 2 MB of memory or disk space. This setting is designed to protect the network and the domain controller from the effect of expansive searches.
Registry values
How enabled and disabled states update the registry.
No explicit registry values are set for enabled or disabled states.
Policy elements
Inputs and configuration options exposed by this policy.
| Scope | Element | Type | Registry mapping | Constraints & behavior | Copy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| User | Number of objects returned: ID AD_QueryLimit_Box | decimal | Path Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Directory UI Value name QueryLimit Type REG_DWORD | Range: ? to 4000000000 |