SOLVED: GPO’s To Disable Notifications Like Windows Update, Cortana, Store, Photos, News, Calendar, OneDrive, Mail & More

UPDATED: Oct 31 2022 – If you are in a corporate setting, so called “alerts” can be quite annoying to your users and you will likely want to disable them.  Unfortunately there are no native GPO’s to disable the various notifications.  Fortunately there are two very easy ways to disable notifications using GPO’s.

1. Download the ADMX template from us HERE.
   NOTE: This came from THIS Technet Article Microsoft has now pulled but we got a copy of it from the WayBackMachine.org.  If you do this be aware of the warning the author writes just above the end of the post which says in part:

   …It means that any notification that you chose to disable will STAY disabled, even if the Group Policy Object that you’ve created is unlinked from the system that it’s applying to…

2. Use GP Editor to create custom registry entries.

1. Using Group Policy Management Editor, create a new policy, right click on it and select EDIT
2. Expand USER CONFIGURATION > PREFERENCES > WINDOWS SETTINGS >REGISTRY
   • Make sure you are in USER CONFIGURATION as MACHINE will have no effect
3. Right click and select NEW > REGISTRY ITEM
4. Use the registry entries below to block the notification you want.  The two screen shots below show you how to disable alerts from Cortana and Photos, both of which drive me nuts:

Disable Security and Maintenance Notifications

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\Windows.SystemToast.SecurityAndMaintenance\Enabled = 0 (DWORD)

Disable OneDrive Notifications

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\Microsoft.SkyDrive.Desktop\Enabled = 0 (DWORD)

Disable Photos Notifications

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\Microsoft.Windows.Photos_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App\Enabled = 0 (DWORD)

Disable Store Notifications

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\Microsoft.WindowsStore_8wekyb3d8bbwe!App\Enabled = 0 (DWORD)

Disable Suggested Notifications

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\Windows.SystemToast.Suggested\Enabled = 0 (DWORD)

Disable Calendar Notifications

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_8wekyb3d8bbwe!microsoft. windowslive.calendar\Enabled=0 (DWORD)

Disable Cortana Notifications

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\Microsoft.Windows.Cortana_cw5n1h2txyewy!CortanaUI\Enabled=0 (DWORD)

Disable Mail Notifications:

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps_8wekyb3d8bbwe!microsoft. windowslive.mail\Enabled=0 (DWORD)

Disable Edge Notifications

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe!MicrosoftEdge\Enabled = 0 (DWORD)

Disable Audio Notifications

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\Windows.SystemToast.AudioTroubleshooter\Enabled = 0 (DWORD)

Disable Autoplay Notifications

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\Windows.SystemToast.AutoPlay\Enabled = 0 (DWORD)

Disable Battery Saver Notifications

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\Windows.SystemToast.BackgroundAccess\Enabled = 0 (DWORD)

Disable Bitlocker Notifications

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\Windows.SystemToast.BdeUnlock\Enabled = 0 (DWORD)

Disable News Notifications

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\Microsoft.BingNews_8wekyb3d8bbwe!AppexNews\Enabled = 0 (DWORD)

Disable Settings Notifications

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\windows.immersivecontrolpanel_cw5n1h2txyewy!microsoft.windows .immersivecontrolpanel\Enabled = 0 (DWORD)

Disable Tablet Notifications

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\Windows.System.Continuum\Enabled = 0 (DWORD)

Disable VPN Notifications

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\Windows.SystemToast.RasToastNotifier\Enabled = 0 (DWORD)

Disable Windows Hello Notifications

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\Windows.SystemToast.HelloFace\Enabled = 0 (DWORD)

Disable Wireless Notifications

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Notifications\ Settings\Windows.SystemToast.WiFiNetworkManager\Enabled = 0 (DWORD)