Policy CSP - ApplicationDefaults

DefaultAssociationsConfiguration

Scope	Editions	Applicable OS
✅ Device ❌ User	✅ Pro ✅ Enterprise ✅ Education ✅ Windows SE ✅ IoT Enterprise / IoT Enterprise LTSC	✅ Windows 10, version 1703 [10.0.15063] and later

./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ApplicationDefaults/DefaultAssociationsConfiguration

This policy allows an administrator to set default file type and protocol associations. When set, default associations will be applied on sign-in to the PC. The association file can be created using the DISM tool (dism /online /export-defaultappassociations:appassoc.xml). The file can be further edited by adding attributes to control how often associations are applied by the policy. The file then needs to be base64 encoded before being added to SyncML. If policy is enabled and the client machine is Microsoft Entra joined, the associations assigned in SyncML will be processed and default associations will be applied.

Description framework properties:

Property name	Property value
Format	chr (string)
Access Type	Add, Delete, Get, Replace

Group policy mapping:

Name	Value
Name	DefaultAssociationsConfiguration
Friendly Name	Set a default associations configuration file
Element Name	Default Associations Configuration File.
Location	Computer Configuration
Path	WindowsComponents > File Explorer
Registry Key Name	Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System
ADMX File Name	WindowsExplorer.admx

Example:

To create the SyncML, follow these steps:

1. Install a few apps and change your defaults.

2. From an elevated prompt, run dism /online /export-defaultappassociations:C:\appassoc.xml. Here's an example output from the dism default association export command:

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
   <DefaultAssociations>
     <Association Identifier=".htm" ProgId="AppX4hxtad77fbk3jkkeerkrm0ze94wjf3s9" ApplicationName="Microsoft Edge" />
     <Association Identifier=".html" ProgId="AppX4hxtad77fbk3jkkeerkrm0ze94wjf3s9" ApplicationName="Microsoft Edge" />
     <Association Identifier=".pdf" ProgId="AppXd4nrz8ff68srnhf9t5a8sbjyar1cr723" ApplicationName="Microsoft Edge" />
     <Association Identifier="http" ProgId="AppXq0fevzme2pys62n3e0fbqa7peapykr8v" ApplicationName="Microsoft Edge" />
     <Association Identifier="https" ProgId="AppX90nv6nhay5n6a98fnetv7tpk64pp35es" ApplicationName="Microsoft Edge" />
   </DefaultAssociations>
   

   Starting in Windows 11, version 22H2, two new attributes are available for further customization of the policy. These attributes can be used to change how often the policy associations are applied.

   • Version attribute for DefaultAssociations. This attribute is used to control when Suggested associations are applied. Whenever the Version value is incremented, a Suggested association is applied one time.
   • Suggested attribute for Association. The default value is false. If it's false, the Association is applied on every sign-in. If it's true, the Association is only applied once for the current DefaultAssociations Version. When the Version is incremented, the Association is applied once again, on next sign-in.

   In the following example, the Association for .htm is applied on first sign-in of the user, and all others are applied on every sign-in. If Version is incremented, and the updated file is deployed to the user, the Association for .htm is applied again:

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
   <DefaultAssociations Version="1" >
     <Association Identifier=".htm" ProgId="AppX4hxtad77fbk3jkkeerkrm0ze94wjf3s9" ApplicationName="Microsoft Edge" Suggested="true" />
     <Association Identifier=".html" ProgId="AppX4hxtad77fbk3jkkeerkrm0ze94wjf3s9" ApplicationName="Microsoft Edge" />
     <Association Identifier=".pdf" ProgId="AppXd4nrz8ff68srnhf9t5a8sbjyar1cr723" ApplicationName="Microsoft Edge" />
     <Association Identifier="http" ProgId="AppXq0fevzme2pys62n3e0fbqa7peapykr8v" ApplicationName="Microsoft Edge" />
     <Association Identifier="https" ProgId="AppX90nv6nhay5n6a98fnetv7tpk64pp35es" ApplicationName="Microsoft Edge" />
   </DefaultAssociations>
   

3. Take the XML output and put it through your favorite base64 encoder app. Here's the base64 encoded result:

   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
   

4. Paste the base64 encoded XML into the SyncML. Here's the SyncML example:

   <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
   <SyncML xmlns="SYNCML:SYNCML1.1">
   <SyncBody>
       <Replace>
         <CmdID>101</CmdID>
         <Item>
           <Meta>
             <Format>chr</Format>
             <Type>text/plain</Type>
           </Meta>
           <Target>
             <LocURI>./Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ApplicationDefaults/DefaultAssociationsConfiguration</LocURI>
           </Target>
           <Data>PD94bWwgdmVyc2lvbj0iMS4wIiBlbmNvZGluZz0iVVRGLTgiPz4NCjxEZWZhdWx0QXNzb2NpYXRpb25zPg0KICA8QXNzb2NpYXRpb24gSWRlbnRpZmllcj0iLmh0bSIgUHJvZ0lkPSJBcHBYNGh4dGFkNzdmYmszamtrZWVya3JtMHplOTR3amYzczkiIEFwcGxpY2F0aW9uTmFtZT0iTWljcm9zb2Z0IEVkZ2UiIC8+DQogIDxBc3NvY2lhdGlvbiBJZGVudGlmaWVyPSIuaHRtbCIgUHJvZ0lkPSJBcHBYNGh4dGFkNzdmYmszamtrZWVya3JtMHplOTR3amYzczkiIEFwcGxpY2F0aW9uTmFtZT0iTWljcm9zb2Z0IEVkZ2UiIC8+DQogIDxBc3NvY2lhdGlvbiBJZGVudGlmaWVyPSIucGRmIiBQcm9nSWQ9IkFwcFhkNG5yejhmZjY4c3JuaGY5dDVhOHNianlhcjFjcjcyMyIgQXBwbGljYXRpb25OYW1lPSJNaWNyb3NvZnQgRWRnZSIgLz4NCiAgPEFzc29jaWF0aW9uIElkZW50aWZpZXI9Imh0dHAiIFByb2dJZD0iQXBwWHEwZmV2em1lMnB5czYybjNlMGZicWE3cGVhcHlrcjh2IiBBcHBsaWNhdGlvbk5hbWU9Ik1pY3Jvc29mdCBFZGdlIiAvPg0KICA8QXNzb2NpYXRpb24gSWRlbnRpZmllcj0iaHR0cHMiIFByb2dJZD0iQXBwWDkwbnY2bmhheTVuNmE5OGZuZXR2N3RwazY0cHAzNWVzIiBBcHBsaWNhdGlvbk5hbWU9Ik1pY3Jvc29mdCBFZGdlIiAvPg0KPC9EZWZhdWx0QXNzb2NpYXRpb25zPg0KDQo=
           </Data>
         </Item>
       </Replace>
     <Final/>
     </SyncBody>
   </SyncML>
   

EnableAppUriHandlers

Scope	Editions	Applicable OS
✅ Device ❌ User	✅ Pro ✅ Enterprise ✅ Education ✅ Windows SE ✅ IoT Enterprise / IoT Enterprise LTSC	✅ Windows 10, version 1803 [10.0.17134] and later

./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ApplicationDefaults/EnableAppUriHandlers

This policy setting determines whether Windows supports web-to-app linking with app URI handlers.

Enabling this policy setting enables web-to-app linking so that apps can be launched with an http(s) URI.

Disabling this policy disables web-to-app linking and http(s) URIs will be opened in the default browser instead of launching the associated app.

If you don't configure this policy setting, the default behavior depends on the Windows edition. Changes to this policy take effect on reboot.

Description framework properties:

Property name	Property value
Format	int
Access Type	Add, Delete, Get, Replace
Default Value	1

Allowed values:

Value	Description
0	Disabled.
1 (Default)	Enabled.

Group policy mapping:

Name	Value
Name	EnableAppUriHandlers
Friendly Name	Configure web-to-app linking with app URI handlers
Location	Computer Configuration
Path	System > Group Policy
Registry Key Name	Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System
Registry Value Name	EnableAppUriHandlers
ADMX File Name	GroupPolicy.admx

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