Files
windows-itpro-docs/windows/configuration/shell-launcher/enable.md
Paolo Matarazzo 7f9c97f34c updates
2025-03-06 17:20:12 -05:00

5.3 KiB

title, description, ms.date, ms.topic
title description ms.date ms.topic
Enable Shell Launcher Learn how to enable the Shell Launcher feature. 02/27/2025 how-to

Enable Shell Launcher

Shell Launcher is an optional component in Windows that is not enabled by default. To configure it, you must first enable it. You can enable and configure Shell Launcher in a customized Windows image, or you can enable it before applying a provisioning package to configure it.

Note

When you configure Shell Launcher with the Assigned Access Configuration Service Provider (CSP), Shell Launcher is automatically enabled, if the device supports it. There's no need to enable Shell Launcher separately when you configure it using Assigned Access CSP.

There are multiple ways to enable Shell Launcher, select the method that best fits your needs to learn more.

:::image type="icon" source="../images/icons/control-panel.svg"::: Control Panel

To enable Shell Launcher using Control Panel, follow these steps:

  1. Open Control Panel > Programs > Turn Windows features on or off or use the command optionalfeatures.exe
  2. Expand Device Lockdown and select Shell Launcher
  3. Select OK to enable Shell Launcher

:::image type="icon" source="../images/icons/powershell.svg"::: PowerShell

To enable Shell Launcher using PowerShell, follow these steps:

  1. Open a PowerShell window with administrator privileges

  2. Run the following command:

    Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -FeatureName Client-DeviceLockdown,Client-EmbeddedShellLauncher -Online
    

:::image type="icon" source="../images/icons/provisioning-package.svg"::: PPKG

The Shell Launcher settings are also available as Windows provisioning settings so you can configure these settings to be applied during the image runtime. You can set one or all Shell Launcher settings by creating a provisioning package using Windows Configuration Designer and then applying the provisioning package during image deployment time or runtime. If Windows hasn't been installed and you're using Windows Configuration Designer to create installation media with settings for Shell Launcher included in the image or you're applying a provisioning package during setup, you must enable Shell Launcher on the installation media with DISM in order for a provisioning package to successfully apply.

Use the following steps to create a provisioning package that contains the ShellLauncher settings.

  1. Build a provisioning package in Windows Configuration Designer by following the instructions in Create a provisioning package for Windows
  2. In the Available customizations page, select Runtime settings > SMISettings > ShellLauncher
  3. Set the value of Enable to ENABLE. More options to configure Shell Launcher appears, and you can set the values as desired
  4. Once you have finished configuring the settings and creating the provisioning package, you can apply the package to the image deployment time or runtime. See the Apply a provisioning package for more information. The process for applying the package to a Windows 10 Enterprise image is the same
Path Setting name Value
Policies/Authentication EnableWebSignIn Enabled
Policies/Authentication ConfigureWebSignInAllowedUrls This setting is optional, and it contains a semicolon-separated list of domains required for sign in, for example: idp.example.com;example.com
Policies/Authentication ConfigureWebCamAccessDomainNames This setting is optional, and it should be configured if you need to use the webcam during the sign-in process. Specify the list of domains that are allowed to use the webcam during the sign-in process, separated by a semicolon. For example: example.com

:::image type="icon" source="../images/icons/settings.svg"::: DISM

  1. Open a command prompt with administrator privileges.

  2. Copy install.wim to a temporary folder on hard drive (in the following steps, we assume it's called C:\wim)

  3. Create a new directory

    md c:\wim
    
  4. Mount the image

    dism /mount-wim /wimfile:c:\bootmedia\sources\install.wim /index:1 /MountDir:c:\wim
    
  5. Enable the feature

    dism /image:c:\wim /enable-feature /all /featureName:Client-EmbeddedShellLauncher
    
  6. Commit the change

    dism /unmount-wim /MountDir:c:\wim /Commit
    

:::image type="icon" source="../images/icons/dev.svg"::: WMI

Enable Shell Launcher by calling WESL_UserSetting

  1. Enable or disable Shell Launcher by calling the WESL_UserSetting. SetEnabled function in the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) class WESL_UserSetting
  2. If you enable or disable Shell Launcher using WESL_UserSetting, the changes don't affect any sessions that are currently signed in; you must sign out and sign back in

This example uses a Windows image called install.wim, but you can use the same procedure to apply a provisioning package. For more information on DISM, see What Is Deployment Image Servicing and Management.