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Disabling Apps for Websites in Windows 11 stops a registered website from directly launching its associated app. That is the documented effect, and it is narrower than the title “protocol handlers” suggests. Custom URI schemes such as myapp://, which an app registers for itself, are governed by separate activation rules, and Microsoft does not document this setting as turning them off.
What Apps for Websites does
Apps for Websites links a website to an installed app, so that a supported web link can open the app instead of the browser. Microsoft’s Apps for Websites developer documentation (last updated 2026-08-21) describes four parts that have to line up:
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- A packaged app, either a full MSIX package or a sparse package.
- A
windows.appUriHandlerdeclaration in the app manifest, listing the website host. - An association file hosted over HTTPS, named
windows-app-web-link, which identifies the app by its package family name. - Activation code in the app that handles the incoming link.
Windows checks the hosted association file against the app manifest before treating a link as eligible. If the app is not installed, Microsoft says the link opens in the browser. The association is a matching and trust mechanism for websites; it is not a general registration of a URL protocol, which is why the policy below does not reach every protocol an app might use.
What breaks and what keeps working
The table separates the behaviours that the policy governs from the ones the documentation places elsewhere.
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| Behaviour | Policy enabled (default) | Policy disabled | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| A registered website link that would open its associated app directly | Opens the app through Apps for Websites | Does not launch the app through Apps for Websites | Microsoft Windows Privacy documentation |
| The website itself in the browser | Available | Microsoft’s documentation does not state a change; the site remains a browser destination | Apps for Websites developer documentation |
Custom URI scheme activation (for example myapp://) for unpackaged apps |
Handled by app-level activation | Not documented as affected by this policy | Microsoft app URI activation guidance |
| Links from Edge Legacy on Windows 11 | Launch the corresponding app | Not stated as a separate case | Microsoft Apps for Websites documentation |
| Links clicked in Chromium-based Edge or Firefox | Stay in the browsing experience | Not stated as a separate case | Microsoft Apps for Websites documentation |
The browser rows describe default behaviour. Microsoft does not document a separate result for each browser when the policy is off, so do not assume that every browser responds identically.
How to disable Apps for Websites
Microsoft documents two supported controls. Both do the same job, and the choice depends on how the machine is managed.
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Option 1: Group Policy
- Open the Local Group Policy Editor (
gpedit.msc) or the domain Group Policy Management Console with rights to edit the target policy. - Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Group Policy.
- Open Configure web-to-app linking with URI handlers and set it to Disabled.
- Apply the policy to the target machines and confirm it has refreshed with
gpupdate /force.
Option 2: Registry value
- Open an elevated Command Prompt or PowerShell session. Writing under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINErequires administrator rights. - Create or set the value
EnableAppUriHandlersas aREG_DWORDwith data0underHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsSystem. For example:reg add "HKLMSOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsSystem" /v EnableAppUriHandlers /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f - Check the value afterwards with
reg query "HKLMSOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsSystem" /v EnableAppUriHandlers.
Microsoft’s cited guidance does not say whether a restart or sign-out is needed before the change takes effect, so check the behaviour on the affected machine rather than assuming either way.
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Comparing the two controls
| Factor | Group Policy setting | Registry value |
|---|---|---|
| Administration path | Group Policy editor or Group Policy Management Console | Direct edit of HKLM with reg, PowerShell or a deployment script |
| Deployment scope | Applied through policy management to selected machines or organisational units | Applied per machine, or pushed by whatever script or tool writes the key |
| Governance | Visible in policy reports and managed centrally | Depends on how the key is tracked and audited |
| Edition availability | Not stated in the cited excerpt; confirm in your deployment tooling | Not stated in the cited excerpt |
Microsoft does not present either route as safer or preferred, so pick the one your management model already audits.
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Checking current state in Settings
Registered links appear under Settings > Apps > Apps for websites, and the settings URI ms-settings:appsforwebsites opens the same page. Microsoft’s Settings reference does not describe this page as a master switch for the Group Policy or registry value. Treat it as a view of registered associations, and check the policy or the registry value to confirm the machine’s state.
What not to change
Microsoft’s guidance does not support three common workarounds:
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- Deleting unrelated protocol registrations. This is not the documented way to disable Apps for Websites, and it can break apps that rely on their own URI schemes.
- Uninstalling the app. Removing the app is a separate action from disabling the policy, and the documentation does not treat it as the disable method.
- Assuming the setting disables all custom URI schemes. The documented scope is web-to-app linking for registered websites.
Official wording
Microsoft’s Windows privacy documentation states the effect in one sentence: “You can turn off apps for websites, preventing customers who visit websites that are registered with their associated app from directly launching the app.” This is an organisational statement, not a quotation from a named person.
No measured impact figures are published for this setting, so none are cited here.
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