Turn off SwitchBack Compatibility Engine

Supported OS tags: Windows10, Windows10RT, Windows11, Windows7, Windows8, Windows81, WindowsRT, WindowsRT81, WindowsServer2008, WindowsServer2012, WindowsServer2012R2, WindowsServer2016

The policy controls the state of the Switchback compatibility engine in the system. Switchback is a mechanism that provides generic compatibility mitigations to older applications by providing older behavior to old applications and new behavior to new applications. Switchback is on by default. If you enable this policy setting, Switchback will be turned off. Turning Switchback off may degrade the compatibility of older applications. This option is useful for server administrators who require performance and are aware of compatibility of the applications they are using. If you disable or do not configure this policy setting, the Switchback will be turned on. Please reboot the system after changing the setting to ensure that your system accurately reflects those changes.

This policy has no additional user input fields.

• Computer
  Prevent access to 16-bit applications

  At least Windows Server 2003
• Computer
  Remove Program Compatibility Property Page

  At least Windows Server 2003
• Computer
  Turn off Application Compatibility Engine

  At least Windows Server 2003
• Computer
  Turn off Application Telemetry

  At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
• Computer
  Turn off Inventory Collector

  At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7
• User
  Turn off Program Compatibility Assistant

  At least Windows Vista
• Computer
  Turn off Program Compatibility Assistant

  At least Windows Vista
• Computer
  Turn off Steps Recorder

  At least Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7