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Turn on SmartScreen Filter scan

This policy controls whether SmartScreen Filter scans webpages assigned to the Internet zone for malicious content.

since 0.9.8.11

Purpose

Show registry keys (2)
  • HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\3\2301
  • HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\3\2301

This policy controls whether SmartScreen Filter scans webpages assigned to the Internet zone for malicious content. The Zones\3 subkey identifies the Internet zone.

When the policy is enabled, SmartScreen analyzes pages opened in this zone for signs of phishing or malware and checks visited sites against information about known malicious websites. A suspicious or reported-unsafe destination can cause SmartScreen to display a warning page and interrupt navigation.

When the policy is disabled, SmartScreen does not perform this zone-specific scan. If the policy is not configured, the user can choose whether pages in the Internet zone are scanned.

Notes

Security

Scanning reduces the risk of users unknowingly visiting known phishing or malware-hosting sites. Disabling it removes this protection for pages in the Internet zone, but does not necessarily disable other Windows or browser security mechanisms.

SmartScreen uses an online reputation service and sends website addresses to Microsoft over an encrypted connection for evaluation. Separate policies determine whether users can bypass SmartScreen warnings; this setting by itself does not make warnings non-bypassable.

Possible side effects

Sites classified as suspicious or unsafe can trigger a warning and interrupt normal navigation. A legitimate site can occasionally be classified incorrectly. Reputation checks also depend on connectivity to the SmartScreen service.

Notes

The two registry locations represent the device-scoped and user-scoped forms of the same ADMX-backed policy. In this context, the 2301 value applies only to zone 3, the Internet zone.

This is an Internet Explorer security-zone policy. It does not configure SmartScreen in Microsoft Edge or Windows shell protection for downloaded applications and files. In Internet Explorer 7, the same policy controlled the earlier Phishing Filter.

Microsoft documentation

Microsoft Learn: InternetExplorer Policy CSP – InternetZoneAllowSmartScreenIE

Microsoft Learn: Virus and threat protection in Windows 11 – Microsoft Defender SmartScreen

See also