Microsoft confirms you can soon enable and disable Smart App Control without reinstalling Windows 11

dacrone said:

I’ll have to try and replicate it to see what’s causing it. What build?

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26200.7462

dacrone said:

It isn’t of much use for most of us… but if you maintain any systems for the unknowledgeable… being able to control it without a reinstall would alleviate a major pita

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Or MS doing a 100% reversal and deciding to leave it on by default, and then somebody will have to come up with a registry hack or a .bat file to permanently disable it again.

This isn't good either if AI is accurate with this answer:

Microsoft Smart App Control (SAC) can slow down apps and installations, especially on older systems or with less common apps, as it constantly analyzes apps in the background, causing launch delays, longer installs, and sometimes blocking safe software due to its AI-driven security. While Microsoft claims it can improve performance by preventing malware from running, many users find it intrusive and report slowdowns, often disabling it for better responsiveness, though it's only easily toggled on a fresh Windows install.

Never understood this. It just seems to block multiple apps but only if launching via shortcuts

here is a registry change that will enable or disable smart app control

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CI\Policy

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in the right window

VerifiedAndReputablePolicyState

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change the value to
0x00000000 = disabled
0x00000001 = enabled

a restart will be required for the change to take affect.
best of luck Steve ..

XxXxX said:

here is a registry change that will enable or disable smart app control


in the right window



change the value to
0x00000000 = disabled
0x00000001 = enabled

a restart will be required for the change to take affect.
best of luck Steve ..

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Post #4. Made it easier for you

I use it without any problems. I even run some unsigned apps that it doesn't block. SAC always notifies if it blocks an app, or part of an app, and apps will often run if part of an app is blocked. Users can report blocked apps via the Feedback Hub and MS usually is pretty quick about deeper analysis and a decision. I've run apps that were previously blocked after some time has passed.

SAC doesn't deserve the hate that it gets. Allowing SAC to be disabled and re-enabled at will kind of defeats the whole purpose, but as a user on another forum often says, "Users want to use stuff" and will go to great lengths to do so. Ignorant users who get infected have only themselves to blame.