Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser Exp
This task launches Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser through `CompatTelRunner.exe`.
since 0.9.8.11
Purpose
Identifier: \Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience\Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser Exp
Setup Foundry disables this scheduled task; the task remains installed, but its triggers no longer start it.
This task launches Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser through CompatTelRunner.exe. The appraiser examines the device and its software for known compatibility concerns. Its assessment covers installed applications and drivers as well as device properties relevant to eligibility for a particular Windows release.
The results are recorded as local compatibility intelligence. Windows Setup, Windows Update, and management services such as Microsoft Intune can use this information to assess feature-update readiness, application conflicts, and possible safeguard holds.
Notes
Additional effects
On managed devices, the task helps refresh device-readiness and compatibility reporting for Windows feature updates. These reports can identify system-requirement issues and known risks involving applications or drivers.
Compatibility Appraiser is not the only source of this information. Windows Setup performs its own compatibility scan during an in-place upgrade, and Windows inbox components or Dynamic Update can also refresh compatibility intelligence.
Privacy and security
The appraiser processes inventory and diagnostic information used to evaluate device and update compatibility. Depending on the configured diagnostic-data level, Windows diagnostic data sent to Microsoft can include operating-system and device identifiers, installed applications, drivers, component versions, and update-readiness status and results.
Disabling the task prevents the collection and reporting runs initiated by its scheduled triggers. It does not turn off Windows diagnostic data as a whole: other Windows components and scheduled tasks can continue to collect or transmit diagnostic information.
Current compatibility intelligence also helps Windows identify known problems before a feature update. Stale results can make that preliminary assessment less current. Security and compatibility checks performed by Windows Setup during an actual upgrade are not removed.
Effects of the change
The task remains registered in Task Scheduler, but its configured triggers no longer launch it. Its scheduled compatibility assessments and the resulting refresh of compatibility information therefore stop.
The task does not provide an interactive application or an everyday Windows feature. Disabling it does not remove an app or user interface, and it does not categorically disable quality or security updates.
The effects that users or administrators might notice mainly involve feature updates and update management:
- The locally stored assessment for a newer Windows release can become stale until another Windows process performs a scan.
- Windows Update can temporarily rely on older compatibility information. An upgrade-readiness message might consequently update later, or a feature update might be offered later.
- In Microsoft Intune, device readiness, application issues, or driver risks can remain outdated or appear as unknown when no other collection process supplies current data.
- A compatibility scan started independently by Windows Setup can still detect applications or drivers that block an upgrade. Disabling this task does not reliably bypass those blocks.
The task is not deleted. Windows or a management tool can still request it explicitly, but Task Scheduler cannot run the task while it remains disabled.
Notes
Depending on the Windows release or build, Microsoft uses both Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser and Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser Exp as task names. This article specifically covers the task whose name ends in Exp. Microsoft’s Intune troubleshooting guidance names that variant directly, while other Learn documentation still refers to the name without the suffix.
Microsoft documentation
Microsoft Community Hub: Troubleshooting Windows feature updates in Microsoft Intune
Microsoft Learn: Use Windows Setup compatibility scan logs to identify blocking issues
Microsoft Learn: Optional diagnostic data for Windows 11 and Windows 10