Remove "Program Compatibility" tab from file properties (context menu)
- Windows onlyThis script improves your privacy on Windows
- Single actionThis page belongs to a script, containing basic changes to achieve a task.
- Impact: Medium
System Functionality / Data Loss Risk: Moderate
This action improves privacy with minimal impact when you run the recommended script.
This action improves privacy with some impact when you run the recommended script. - Batch (batchfile)These changes use Windows system commands to update your settings.
- Administrator rights requiredThis script requires privilege access to do the system changes
- Fully reversible
You can fully restore this action (revert back to the original behavior) using this website.
The restore/revert methods provided here can help you fix issues.
Overview
This script removes the "Program Compatibility" tab from the file properties context menu. This tab is visible on the property context menu of any program shortcut or executable file, and displays options that can be applied to the application to solve common issues affecting older applications 1.
When enabled, this script prevents the compatibility property page from appearing in the context menus, though it does not impact any prior compatibility settings applied to applications through this interface 1.
This script achieves its functionality by modifying a specific registry key:
HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\AppCompat!DisablePropPage
1.
This setting is often used in organizational environments to prevent end-users from modifying the compatibility settings of applications. It ensures that applications operate with the settings considered most suitable by the system administrator or IT department. This restriction aids in upholding system stability and security by ensuring users cannot run applications in modes recognized to be insecure or unstable.
This script assists in upholding a more secure and stable environment by barring unauthorized changes to application compatibility settings. The security benefits include:
- Restricting User Actions: By limiting the actions that a user can perform, administrators can prevent unintended security vulnerabilities. Users may inadvertently (or intentionally) choose settings that could expose the system to risks, and this script helps in preventing such scenarios.
- Maintaining Known Configurations: By ensuring that applications can only run in certain compatibility modes, administrators can more effectively manage and secure their environments. They can thoroughly test and verify the security of the allowed configurations, leading to a more robust security posture.
- Preventing Exploitation of Vulnerabilities: Some compatibility settings might make applications run in a less secure mode to maintain compatibility with older software or systems. Preventing users from enabling such settings can help in avoiding potential vulnerabilities associated with these modes.
By preventing users from changing compatibility settings, you could prevent them from selecting settings that send additional data to software vendors (for example, certain compatibility modes might enable additional telemetry or error reporting). Though primarily aimed at control and stability, this restriction indirectly contributes to privacy protection by reducing potential unwanted data transmission.
This script is only recommended if you understand its implications.
Some non-critical or features may no longer function correctly after running this script.
This script can be fully reversed to restore changes if something goes wrong.
Sources
- ADMX_AppCompat Policy CSP - Windows Client Management. Microsoft Learn. (2023).
Original: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/client-management/mdm/policy-csp-admx-appcompat
Archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20230924112733/https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/client-management/mdm/policy-csp-admx-appcompat#appcompatremoveprogramcompatproppage
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:: Set the registry value: "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\AppCompat!DisablePropPage"
PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command "$registryPath = 'HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\AppCompat'; $data = '1'; reg add 'HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\AppCompat' /v 'DisablePropPage' /t 'REG_DWORD' /d "^""$data"^"" /f"
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About the Creators
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History
We continually monitor our guides, their impact and all other privacy options. We update our guides when new information becomes available. On every update, we publicly store who made the change, what has been changed, why the change was made and when the change was made.