Policy
Disable Known Folders
Windows 11 25H2
Policy overview
Key metadata and intent for this policy.
Supported OS tags: Windows10, Windows10RT, Windows11, Windows7, Windows8, Windows81, WindowsRT, WindowsRT81, WindowsServer2008, WindowsServer2012, WindowsServer2012R2, WindowsServer2016
This policy setting allows you to specify a list of known folders that should be disabled. Disabling a known folder will prevent the underlying file or directory from being created via the known folder API. If the folder exists before the policy is applied, the folder must be manually deleted since the policy only blocks the creation of the folder. You can specify a known folder using its known folder id or using its canonical name. For example, the Sample Videos known folder can be disabled by specifying {440fcffd-a92b-4739-ae1a-d4a54907c53f} or SampleVideos. Note: Disabling a known folder can introduce application compatibility issues in applications that depend on the existence of the known folder.
Registry values
How enabled and disabled states update the registry.
| Registry location | Type | Enabled value | Disabled value |
|---|---|---|---|
| HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer\DisableKnownFolders | REG_DWORD | 1 | 0 |
Policy elements
Inputs and configuration options exposed by this policy.
| Element | Type | Registry mapping | Constraints & behavior |
|---|---|---|---|
Disable these Known Folders. ID DisableKnownFolders_Prompt | list | HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer\DisableKnownFolders\DisableKnownFolders Type REG_MULTI_SZ | List: additive |
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