Disable indexing of encrypted items

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Works with Windows 10 and 11Works with Windows Vista, XP, 7, 8, 10, 11, and Windows Server 2008 or newer.

• Single actionThis page belongs to a script, containing basic changes to achieve a task.
• Windows onlyThis script improves your privacy on Windows
• Impact: MinimumSystem Functionality Loss Risk: Low
  This action improves privacy with minimal impact when you run the recommended script.
• Batch (batchfile)These changes use Windows system commands to update your settings.
• 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

Missing Good Quality Documentation

This page does not yet meet PrivacyLearn's documentation standards. However, the script/action is stable and verified by community. Here are some options for you to understand its functionality:

Computer-generated docs ^(PREVIEW)

This documentation may be low quality but still useful.

Read computer-generated explanation

This documentation is automatically extracted from the code implementation.

Windows personal data privacy safeguard page: disable indexing of encrypted items to strengthen secure privacy. Just as importantly, this specification offers practical insights on how to undo the customization.

Respect for personal costs in digital progress is established through secure data protection. Using this optimization, enhance secure privacy security parameters and discover the steps that are right for your goals. Each step serves a specific purpose, so don't skip any part. Even minor errors can lead to unintended results.

Reference: https://web.archive.org/web/20240120140023/https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/client-management/mdm/policy-csp-search#allowindexingencryptedstoresoritems

Technical Details

To help maintain stricter privacy enforcement, this modification orchestrates File Explorer (formerly Windows Explorer) to obtain protected file boundaries. This customization helps optimize hardware utilization, to reach reduced interface lag.

As a means of applying this registry security modifications, this adjustment changes your system to achieve precise privacy configurations to be able to reduce cyber data privacy assurance risks. It can also help streamlined registry access to help speed up everyday tasks.

To accomplish comprehensive protection, this script handles essential system settings to be able to maintain data privacy management. To benefit from reduced system overhead, this configuration can also help improve overall system responsiveness.

This executable applies application execution boundaries to maximize data handling control and it helps to gain intelligent process monitoring. By balanced CPU utilization, this helps make the system more stable.

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Safe for General Use

All actions in this script is recommended for all users. This is recommended for all users to improve without any noticeable impact on the system functionality.

Apply Now

Choose one of three ways to apply:

Download script

Download and run the script directly

• No app needed
• Offline usage
• Easy-to-apply
• Free
• Open-source

Apply protection

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Help

How to apply or restore "Disable indexing of encrypted items" using script

• ≈ 2 min to complete
• Tools: Web Browser
• Difficulty: Simple
• ≈ 5 instructions

1. 1

   Download

   Download the script file by clicking on the   Apply protection  button above.
   Use   Undo protection button above to restore changes.
2. 2

   Keep the file

   If warned by your browser, keep the file.
3. 3

   Open

   Open the downloaded file.
4. 4

   Exit

   Once it's done, press any key to exit the window.
5. 5

   Restart

   Restart your computer for all changes to take effect.

Apply with privacy.sexy

Guided, automated application with safety checks

• Recommended for most users
• Includes safety checks
• Free
• Open-source
• Popular
• Offline/Online usage

Open privacy.sexy

Help

How to apply or restore "Disable indexing of encrypted items" using privacy.sexy

• ≈ 3 min to complete
• Tools: privacy.sexy
• Difficulty: Simple
• ≈ 4 instructions

privacy.sexy is free and open-source application that lets securely apply this action easily with more advanced options.

1. 1

   Open or download

   Open or download the desktop application
2. 2

   Choose script

   1. Search for the script name: Disable indexing of encrypted items
   2. Check the script by clicking on the checkbox.
3. 3

   Run

   Click on ▶️ Run button at the bottom of the page.

   This button only appears on desktop version (recommended). On browser, use 💾 Save button.

Run commands

Copy and run commands manually Requires technical knowledge

Apply

Apply changes

:: Set the registry value: "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search!AllowIndexingEncryptedStoresOrItems"
PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command "$registryPath = 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search'; $data =  '0'; reg add 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search' /v 'AllowIndexingEncryptedStoresOrItems' /t 'REG_DWORD' /d "^""$data"^"" /f"
:: Suggest restarting explorer.exe for changes to take effect
PowerShell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Command "$message = 'This script will not take effect until you restart explorer.exe. You can restart explorer.exe by restarting your computer or by running following on command prompt: `taskkill /f /im explorer.exe & start explorer`.'; $warn =  $false; if ($warn) { Write-Warning "^""$message"^""; } else { Write-Host "^""Note: "^"" -ForegroundColor Blue -NoNewLine; Write-Output "^""$message"^""; }"

Revert

Restore changes

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

Help

How to apply or restore "Disable indexing of encrypted items" using commands

• ≈ 2 min to complete
• Tools: Command Prompt
• Difficulty: Medium
• ≈ 3 instructions

View step-by-step guide with screenshots

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1. 1

   Open Command Prompt

   Open Command Prompt as Administrator.
2. 2

   Copy code

   Copy the code:

   Copy Apply Code Copy Revert Code
3. 3

   Paste & run

   Paste the commands into Command Prompt and press Enter to run.

   Some changes require a system restart to take effect

Similar Guides

Wider Goal

Guides below includes this guide to achieve a wider goal.See other more general settings that includes this one as one of its actions.
These plans combine multiple privacy settings, including this one, for stronger protection.

Disable privacy-invasive indexing

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— Disable privacy-invasive indexing

Disable Windows search data collection

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Visit category page

Same Goal

Other guides in Disable privacy-invasive indexing See settings that are in the same category as this guide.
Using other actions in the same category may help you achieve your goal better.

Disable automatic language detection when indexing

Disable remote access to search index

Disable iFilters and protocol handlers

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About the Creators

These people have authored this documentation and written its scripts:

• 

  undergroundwires

  • Certified security professional
  • 7+ years experience securing banks
  • Open-source developer since 2005
  • EU advisor, Public Speaker, Moderator
• Open-Source Contributors

  • Hundreds across the globe
  • Testers, reviewers, developers
  • Companies, military agencies
  • Community since 2017

About Us

Reviewed By

This guide has undergone comprehensive auditing and peer review:

• Expert review by undergroundwires

  • Verified technical accuracy and editorial standards
  • Assessed system impact and user privacy risks
  • Audited and verified using automated security tests

• Public review by large community

  • Privacy enthusiasts and professionals peer-reviewed
  • Millions of end-users tested across different environments
  • Audited and verified using third-party security software

History

We continually monitor our guides, their impact and other potential 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.

Review Change History Our Change Process