How to Disable WPAD and Stop wpad.localdomain DNS Requests

For Individuals: Disabling WPAD on Your Windows Machine

If you’re a Windows user looking to secure your system by stopping unwanted WPAD DNS requests, follow these straightforward registry tweaks.

Step 1: Disable WPAD in WinHTTP

Open the Registry Editor by pressing Win + R, typing regedit, and hitting Enter. Then navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\WinHttp

Create a new DWORD (32-bit) value named DisableWpad and set its value to 1.

Step 2: Turn Off Auto-Detect for Internet Settings

Next, navigate to:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings

Create or update the REG_DWORD value named AutoDetect to 0. This change stops Windows from automatically detecting proxy settings.

Final step: Restart your computer to apply the changes.

For System Admins: Disabling WPAD via Group Policy or Intune

Managing a large number of devices? You can easily deploy these settings enterprise-wide using Group Policy (GPO) or Microsoft Intune.

Option 1: Using Group Policy (GPO)

Computer-Level Settings:

• Open the Group Policy Management Console and create a new GPO (e.g., DisableWPAD-Computer).
• Navigate to: Computer Configuration → Preferences → Windows Settings → Registry
• Create a new registry item with the following details:
  • Key Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\WinHttp
  • Value Name: DisableWpad
  • Value Type: REG_DWORD
  • Value: 1

User-Level Settings:

• Create a second GPO (e.g., DisableWPAD-User) and navigate to: User Configuration → Preferences → Windows Settings → Registry
• Create a new registry item with these settings:
  • Key Path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings
  • Value Name: AutoDetect
  • Value Type: REG_DWORD
  • Value: 0

Note: Apply the Computer GPO to the OU with your computer objects and the User GPO to the OU with your user objects. A double reboot may be required to ensure all settings are fully applied.

Option 2: Using Intune

For devices managed with Intune, deploy these registry settings via a custom configuration profile:

• Create a new Custom Configuration Profile.
• For the computer-level setting, add a registry configuration:
  • Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\WinHttp
  • Value Name: DisableWpad
  • Type: REG_DWORD
  • Value: 1
• For the user-level setting, add another registry configuration:
  • Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings
  • Value Name: AutoDetect
  • Type: REG_DWORD
  • Value: 0
• Deploy the profile to your targeted devices.