Policy
Block launching desktop apps associated with a file.
Microsoft Windows
Policy overview
Key metadata and intent for this policy.
Supported OS tags: Windows10, Windows10RT, Windows11, Windows8, Windows81, WindowsRT, WindowsRT81, WindowsServer2012, WindowsServer2012R2, WindowsServer2016
This policy setting lets you control whether packaged Microsoft Store apps can open files using the default desktop app for a file type. Because desktop apps run at a higher integrity level than packaged Microsoft Store apps, there is a risk that a packaged Microsoft Store app might compromise the system by opening a file in the default desktop app for a file type. If you enable this policy setting, packaged Microsoft Store apps cannot open files in the default desktop app for a file type; they can open files only in other packaged Microsoft Store apps. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, packaged Microsoft Store apps can open files in the default desktop app for a file type.
Registry values
How enabled and disabled states update the registry.
| Scope | Registry location | Type | Enabled value | Disabled value | Copy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Path Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Associations Value name BlockFileElevation | REG_DWORD | HKLM 1 HKCU 1 | HKLM 0 HKCU 0 |
Policy elements
Inputs and configuration options exposed by this policy.
This policy has no additional user input fields.