Policy
Control Event Log behavior when the log file reaches its maximum size
Microsoft Windows
Policy overview
Key metadata and intent for this policy.
Supported OS tags: Windows10, Windows10RT, Windows11, Windows7, Windows8, Windows81, WindowsRT, WindowsRT81, WindowsServer2008, WindowsServer2012, WindowsServer2012R2, WindowsServer2016, WindowsVista
This policy setting controls Event Log behavior when the log file reaches its maximum size. If you enable this policy setting and a log file reaches its maximum size, new events are not written to the log and are lost. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting and a log file reaches its maximum size, new events overwrite old events. Note: Old events may or may not be retained according to the "Backup log automatically when full" policy setting.
Registry values
How enabled and disabled states update the registry.
| Scope | Registry location | Type | Enabled value | Disabled value | Copy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Computer | Path Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\EventLog\Application Value name Retention | REG_SZ | HKLM 1 | HKLM 0 |
Policy elements
Inputs and configuration options exposed by this policy.
This policy has no additional user input fields.