How to set and configure Disk Quota in Windows Server

Windows 11/10/Server with multiple users puts no restriction on the amount of space one can occupy on the existing storage. This makes the whole system vulnerable if storage is of importance. That’s where Disk Quota comes into the picture. The feature ensures that every user gets a fixed amount of disk space, which cannot be exceeded. The system is smart enough to set warnings early, so users know and take effective measures to ensure the performance. In this post, we will share how you can enable, set, configure and enforce Disk Quota limit in Windows 11/10 using Disk Properties, Registry, or Group Policy Editor.

Disk Quota Features in Windows Server

• It only works on NTFS System
• Needs Admin permission to setup
• It only applies to physical storage and partitions
• You can apply disk quotas and partitions simultaneously
• The uncompressed file size is counted against the quota limit

How to enable and configure Disk Quota for Users in Windows 11/10/Server

First, make sure where you want to apply the Disk Quota limit. Since it cannot be applied to folders, you will have to apply it to the disk. While you can, I would suggest not restricting user quota on the primary drive, but on the rest of the partitions. It will help you pinpoint if they store everything on their desktop. Follow the steps to get it done.

• Open File Explorer, and go This PC folder on the left panel.
• Right-click on the drive on which you need to enable Disk Quota, and select Properties from the context menu.
• Switch to Quota, and click on Show Quota Settings button
• This will reveal the settings that can be configured for that partition. Check the box, and all the configuration will be available.
  • Deny disk space to users exceeding quota limit
  • Limit Disk space with warning level
  • Enable Quota logging for warning and exceeding of the quota limit
• Once you apply the settings, the volume or the drive is scanned to update disk usage statistics.

You can further check the details when you click on the Quota Entries button, which reveals how much space is occupied by each user on the system against the Quota. You can see the amount of current usage, warning limit, warning level, and percent used.

Enable Disk Quotas for specific users

If you want to have a different Quota for different users, then you need to use the Quota Entries window for that drive. Once you open it, right-click on the Logon Name of the user, and select Properties from the context menu.

Here, you can choose to set disk space and warning quota, which can be different from those of the rest of the users.

It’s an excellent option if you do not want to have any quota for administrators, but for the rest of the users, you can do so.

Enable Disk Quota using Registry Editor

Open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT

Here you will see a key/folder named DiskQuota. If you do not see it, create it.

Now in this key, right-click on the right side and create a new 32-bit DWORD value, name it Enable and give it a value of 1.

Enable Disk Quota using Group Policy Editor

Open the Group Policy Editor and navigate to the following settings:

Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Disk Quotas

Set Enable disk quotas to Enabled.

When users reach an unenforced limit, their status in the Quota Entries window changes, but they can continue to write to the volume as long as physical space is available.

We have seen how to enable Disk Quota for Users in Windows 11/10, now let us see how to enforce Disk Quota Limit, and Prevent Users from Changing Settings.

Enforce Disk Quota Limit Using Registry Editor in Windows

1. Press Windows Key + R combination, type put Regedt32.exe in the Run dialog box and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.

2. Navigate to this registry key:

HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\DiskQuota

3. In the right pane of this location, you’ll need to create the DWORD named Enforce using Right click -> New -> DWORD Value. Double click on this DWORD, you’ll get this:

4. In order to let Windows enforce for limiting disk quota, you can input the Value data as 0. Click OK. If you want to restore default policy of Windows to not enforce limiting disk quota, simply delete the DWORD created in recent step.

That’s it!

Enforce Disk Quota Limit Using Local Group Policy Editor in Windows

1. Press Windows Key + R combination, type put gpedit.msc in the  Run dialog box and hit Enter to open the Local Group Policy Editor.

2. Navigate here :

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Disk Quotas

3. In the right pane of this location, look for the setting named Enforce disk quota limit and double click over it to modify it:

4. In the above window, select Enabled, so that Windows can be enforced to limit disk quota. Click Apply followed by OK. Reboot to get results. That’s it!

I hope you find the article useful.

How to set Quota limit on folders in Windows?

To set quota limits on folders in Windows, open the File Explorer, right-click the drive, and select ‘Properties.’ Go to the ‘Quota’ tab, click on ‘Show Quota Settings,’ and enable quota management. Then, define limits and actions for users as required.

Does NTFS support disk quotas?