Policy

Windows Defender Firewall: Allow local program exceptions

Allows administrators to use the Windows Defender Firewall component in Control Panel to define a local program exceptions list. Windows Defender Firewall uses two program exceptions lists; the other is defined by the "Windows Defender Firewall: Define inbound program exceptions" policy setting. If you enable this policy setting, the Windows Defender Firewall component in Control Panel allows administrators to define a local program exceptions list. If you disable this policy setting, the Windows Defender Firewall component in Control Panel does not allow administrators to define a local program exceptions list. However, local administrators will still be allowed to create firewall rules in the Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security snap-in. If you wish to prevent all locally created rules from applying, use the Group Policy Object Editor snap-in and configure Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security to specify that local firewall rules should not apply.

Policy
Pack Microsoft Windows
Category Windows Defender Firewall / Standard Profile
Policy ID b82ea536c1b9
Internal name WF_AllowedProgramsLocal_Name_2

Registry

Copy registry mappings

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\StandardProfile\AuthorizedApplications\AllowUserPrefMerge (enabled) = 1
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\StandardProfile\AuthorizedApplications\AllowUserPrefMerge (disabled) = 0

Policy notes

Allows administrators to use the Windows Defender Firewall component in Control Panel to define a local program exceptions list. Windows Defender Firewall uses two program exceptions lists; the other is defined by the "Windows Defender Firewall: Define inbound program exceptions" policy setting. If you enable this policy setting, the Windows Defender Firewall component in Control Panel allows administrators to define a local program exceptions list. If you disable this policy setting, the Windows Defender Firewall component in Control Panel does not allow administrators to define a local program exceptions list. However, local administrators will still be allowed to create firewall rules in the Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security snap-in. If you wish to prevent all locally created rules from applying, use the Group Policy Object Editor snap-in and configure Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Windows Defender Firewall with Advanced Security to specify that local firewall rules should not apply.

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