Why does Windows sometimes revert settings we’ve already configured via policy?

Hi INT66 Risla,

The return of taskbar clutter after a cumulative update usually indicates that the Windows Shell is prioritizing a new feature set or a refreshed default state over the existing local policy cache. While your GPO might show as applied, the update often introduces Search Highlights as a separate entity from the traditional News and Interests feed. To fully suppress this, you must verify that your configuration profiles target both the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Feeds hive with the EnableFeeds DWORD set to 0 and the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search hive with the EnableDynamicContentInSearchBox DWORD set to 0.

If the clutter persists despite these settings, the local Registry.pol file on your endpoints may be out of sync with the Intune management extension or the Group Policy engine. You can force a refresh by temporarily setting the policies to Not Configured across your environment to clear the existing keys, followed by a re-application of the Disabled state. This forces the Windows operating system to rewrite the registry values and overrides the dynamic content triggers that Microsoft frequently resets during major quality updates.

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Domic V.