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How to Disable Windows Settings Backup for Managed Devices

Disable Windows Backup for Organizations through Intune, MDM/CSP, or Group Policy—or use Do not sync when the goal is to stop settings roaming across PCs.
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To turn off Windows Backup for Organizations, set Enable Windows Backup to Disabled through Intune, an MDM policy, or Group Policy. If you instead want to stop settings from roaming between PCs, use the separate Do not sync policy. These controls address different behaviors, and Microsoft says disabling Windows Backup deletes user data, so verify the current data-handling details before deploying the change broadly.

Choose the policy that matches what you mean by “settings backup”

Windows Backup for Organizations backs up device-specific settings so they can be restored to a new device. Enterprise State Roaming (ESR), by contrast, synchronizes supported settings across devices for a user. Microsoft says ESR management moved to Windows settings backup and restore starting in July 2026; use current Windows backup policy guidance for new changes rather than treating the older ESR controls as interchangeable. See Microsoft’s Windows Backup for Organizations FAQ and Enterprise State Roaming guidance.

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Goal Policy to use Effect
Disable Windows Backup for Organizations Enable Windows Backup = Disabled Turns off the organizational backup feature; Microsoft says turning it off deletes user data. The precise deletion scope and timing are not stated in the overview. Microsoft overview.
Stop Windows settings from syncing to and from a PC Do not sync = Enabled Prevents sync to and from that PC and disables Remember my preferences in Settings. Microsoft policy settings.
Stop only selected kinds of settings from syncing Enable the policy for each relevant category Restricts the specified settings group rather than all synchronization. Available categories include accessibility, apps, passwords/credentials, personalization, and language preferences. Microsoft policy settings.

Disable Windows Backup for Organizations

Use one management route for the intended device or user scope. Microsoft documents the following options in its Windows Backup for Organizations overview.

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Intune Settings Catalog

  1. In the Intune admin center, create a Settings Catalog policy for Windows 10 and later.
  2. Browse to Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Sync your settings.
  3. Set Enable Windows Backup to Disabled.
  4. Assign the policy to the intended device or user group, then monitor deployment and policy status before expanding assignment.

Microsoft’s overview says this procedure turns off Windows Backup and deletes user data. The overview does not specify deletion scope, timing, or reversibility; check the full current instructions and your organization’s retention requirements before rollout.

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Other MDM or CSP management

Configure the SettingsSync Policy CSP node ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/SettingsSync/EnableWindowsBackup with the string value <disabled/>. Microsoft identifies this as a device policy. Because it is ADMX-backed, the MDM payload must use the required SyncML string format; consult the SettingsSync Policy CSP for supported editions, Windows versions, and payload requirements.

Group Policy

For Active Directory-joined devices, configure Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Sync your settings > Enable Windows Backup as Disabled. Check Microsoft’s current overview for policy behavior on the Windows builds in your fleet.

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Stop all settings synchronization instead

If the goal is to prevent settings from syncing to or from managed PCs—not specifically to disable backup and restore—enable Do not sync. Microsoft describes its effect as “Prevent syncing to and from this PC.” It also turns off and disables Remember my preferences under Settings > Accounts > Windows backup.

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  • Intune: Deploy the Do not sync setting through Settings Catalog.
  • Other MDM: Configure ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_SettingSync/DisableSettingSync with the ADMX-backed policy payload. Follow the encoding and SyncML requirements in Microsoft’s ADMX_SettingSync Policy CSP.
  • Group Policy: Set Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Sync your settings > Do not sync to Enabled.

For a narrower restriction, use the individual category policies in Microsoft’s Windows settings backup and restore policy settings. Enabling a category policy disables that category’s option on the Windows backup settings page.

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Check applicability and deployment impact

  • Confirm Windows edition and build. Microsoft’s ADMX_SettingSync CSP lists Do not sync support for Pro, Enterprise, Education, and IoT Enterprise. It specifies Windows 10 version 2004 with the listed servicing updates and later, and Windows 11 version 21H2 and later. Verify the live applicability details for each target build in the CSP documentation; the SettingsSync CSP has its own applicability details.
  • Scope policies carefully. Broad sync controls are device-scoped. Microsoft advises applying the older ESR Group Policy/MDM settings only to corporate-owned devices because device-wide policy can affect other accounts on the PC. That ESR article is legacy-context guidance, not current Windows Backup policy documentation; see Migrate Microsoft Entra Enterprise State Roaming.
  • Keep backup and restore configuration separate. Intune documents restore enrollment separately from backup configuration. Its restore enrollment control is tenant-wide and off when not configured; the stated restore scenario requires a user to have at least one backup profile and Autopilot to use user-driven, not self-deploying, mode. See Enable Windows Backup for Organizations in Microsoft Intune.
  • Assess data retention before disabling backup. Microsoft says turning off Windows Backup deletes user data, but the overview does not establish the precise scope, timing, or reversibility. Resolve those details against the current documentation and your retention requirements before broad assignment.

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