Releases: HotCakeX/Harden-Windows-Security
AppControl Manager 2.0.34.0
Installation
Install it from the Microsoft Store: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9png1jddtgp8
What's New
-
Improved various aspects of ListViews in the app. Their column widths have more paddings to look better when the list is empty. Also some ListViews wouldn't maintain horizontal scroll position when you performed search and column sorting. This has been fixed.
-
Updated NuGet dependencies.
PRs
How to verify the MSIXBundle's authenticity:
gh attestation verify "Path To MSIXBundle" --repo HotCakeX/Harden-Windows-Security --format json
You can install the GitHub CLI from Winget:
winget install --id GitHub.cli
AppControl Manager 2.0.33.0
Installation
Install it from the Microsoft Store: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9png1jddtgp8
What's New
-
Updated the Rust build processes for native library generation and updated the package generation scripts accordingly.
-
This change improves the security and performance of calls to the Rust code as they will be absorbed in the app's executable rather than being a separate file.
-
You can read more about it here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/deploying/native-aot/interop
-
-
When you right-click or hold + tap on an entry in a List View and select to open it in file explorer, the file will be scrolled to if it's down in the list and it will be highlighted, allowing you to quickly locate it.
-
Updated NuGet dependencies.
-
When you enable Sound in the app settings (it is off by default), there will be sound effects for typing in the text fields in the app.
PRs
How to verify the MSIXBundle's authenticity:
gh attestation verify "Path To MSIXBundle" --repo HotCakeX/Harden-Windows-Security --format json
You can install the GitHub CLI from Winget:
winget install --id GitHub.cli
Contributors
Assets 8
AppControl Manager 2.0.32.0
Installation
Install it from the Microsoft Store: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9png1jddtgp8
What's New
-
Updated NuGet dependencies.
-
Removed some instances of excessive logging, specifically during simulation and event log scans.
-
Code refactor and performance optimizations.
-
Improved localization.
PRs
How to verify the MSIXBundle's authenticity:
gh attestation verify "Path To MSIXBundle" --repo HotCakeX/Harden-Windows-Security --format json
You can install the GitHub CLI from Winget:
winget install --id GitHub.cli
Contributors
Assets 8
AppControl Manager 2.0.31.0
Installation
Install it from the Microsoft Store: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9png1jddtgp8
What's New
-
Added WHQL File Publisher scan level support to the AppControl Manager. This is the most secure scan level for signed files and is now the default level for all file scans. It has automatic fallback to File Publisher, Publisher and Hash levels so it can create rule for all types of files.
-
Added File Path and Wildcard Folder Path levels to the Allow New Apps page.
-
Added security score to all of the scan levels in the app so you can quickly see the security each level offers.
-
Updated the icons for AppControl Manager, they now have less unused spaces around them.
-
Created a Rust-based project that includes all of the native Interops and COM usages, replacing the CsWin32 implementations with more high performance code. Any future native code will be included in it.
-
Improved the RTL (Right-To-Left) layout and design by making the entire title bar, including the Minimize/Maximize/Close buttons, RTL aware. This means the title bar will be on the right side of the window when the app is in RTL mode. You can configure RTL/LTR mode in the app settings via a toggle switch.
-
Added the 6th Sidebar button for Supplemental Policy page.
-
AppControl Manager version bump to
2.0.31.0. -
Fixed an issue with the Policy Editor not saving the policy name and policy ID when you press the Save button. - Thanks @Minifab and @Obscurity1935 for reporting it. 🙏🏻
-
Updated NuGet dependencies to the latest version.
-
In the Get Code Integrity File Hashes page, added 2 new features:
-
You can now right-click or Tap + Hold on the Browse button to view the selected file.
-
Added animated icon to the Clear Data button.
-
-
Sub-pages now appear in the search results when you try to find a page using the search bar at the top of the app's user interface, previously only the main pages would appear in the search results.
-
Improved localization.
-
When you right-click or Tap + Hold on rows of the List Views that show scan results, you now have an option called "Open in File Explorer". When you select that, the directory that contains the file will be opened in File Explorer, allowing you to interact with it quickly without the need to manually browse the directories to find that file.
- It also has a keyboard shortcut associated with it: CTRL + O (Control button + O as in Orange)
-
Added additional metadata to the main Window of the app for screen readers to use for accessibility purposes.
-
After creating a policy in the app, you now have a new option that will let you open the policy file using the default file handler set in the OS, such as Visual Studio Code or Notepad. This is in addition to the existing option where you could open the policy in the Policy Editor with 1 click/tap on a button. As a result of this change, the button has changed into a drop-down button to be able to show more options.
-
The scan level of the Kernel-mode Supplemental policy creation has been changed from
FilePublishertoWHQLFilePublisher. -
Added "Configure Rule Options" quick action for when a policy is created in the "Create Policy" page.
-
Updated the icon of the "Get Secure Policy Settings" page in the main navigation.
PRs
How to verify the MSIXBundle's authenticity:
gh attestation verify "Path To MSIXBundle" --repo HotCakeX/Harden-Windows-Security --format json
You can install the GitHub CLI from Winget:
winget install --id GitHub.cli
Contributors
Assets 8
AppControl Manager 2.0.30.0
Installation
Install it from the Microsoft Store: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9png1jddtgp8
What's New
-
✨ You can now view, edit, add and delete policy settings in the Policy Editor. This feature allows you to view all of the custom and secure policy settings from App Control policies (whether in XML or in CIP binary format) and manage them easily. You can also add new rules from the presets defined in the application.
- When running without Admin privileges, the tabs in the Policy Editor page, as well as each row in the List Views are re-orderable so you can drag and drop them to sort them any way you prefer.
-
✨ You can now create and add Deny rules to an existing policy in the Create Deny Policy page. This feature allows you to quickly create and add rules based on many different criteria to an existing policy without creating new policies. You can change this mode of operation at the top of the aforementioned page.
-
Improved localization.
-
Added support section to the Sidebar.
-
Updated a NuGet dependency.
PRs
How to verify the MSIXBundle's authenticity:
gh attestation verify "Path To MSIXBundle" --repo HotCakeX/Harden-Windows-Security --format json
You can install the GitHub CLI from Winget:
winget install --id GitHub.cli
Contributors
Assets 8
AppControl Manager 2.0.29.0
Installation
Install it from the Microsoft Store: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9png1jddtgp8
What's New
-
Added support for 5 new hash types to the Get Code Integrity Hashes page. You can right-click on any file in file explorer, select
AppControl Managerand then selectView File Hashesas a quick access point for this too. These are among the most secure hash types available today.- SHA2-384-Authenticode Hash
- SHA2-512-Authenticode Hash
- SHA3-256-Authenticode Hash
- SHA3-384-Authenticode Hash
- SHA3-512-Authenticode Hash
-
Updated NuGet dependencies such as .NET SDK and WinAppSDK.
-
Version bump to
2.0.29.0 -
Improved the Get Code Integrity Hashes page design with advanced animations.
-
Reduced the size of the app package.
-
Reduced the app startup time and made page navigations faster.
-
Removed multiple dependencies from the app; their logics have been natively implemented.
-
Audit mode Toggle switch for the Strict Kernel mode policy in the Create AppControl Policy page is now enabled by default, preventing users from accidentally deploying it in enforced mode. Now an extra action must be taken (toggling the switch off) in order to deploy it in enforced mode.
-
The app's main window now has a minimum width and height of
700 x 700pixels. -
Improved localization.
PRs
How to verify the MSIXBundle's authenticity:
gh attestation verify "Path To MSIXBundle" --repo HotCakeX/Harden-Windows-Security --format json
You can install the GitHub CLI from Winget:
winget install --id GitHub.cli
Contributors
Assets 8
AppControl Manager 2.0.28.0
Installation
Install it from the Microsoft Store: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9png1jddtgp8
What's New
-
Enhanced Button Cancellation: Added cancellation support to more buttons in the Supplemental and Deny policy creation pages. You can now press the same button again to immediately cancel the ongoing operation.
-
Optimized Log Handling: The logs page has been significantly enhanced with advanced performance improvements that handle extremely large log files while maintaining minimal memory usage and keeping the UI responsive.
-
Improved Button Design: Refined the visual design and animations for cancellable buttons, providing a more polished user experience.
-
Windows Accent Color Integration: Content dialog border shadows now dynamically match your Windows accent color for improved visual consistency with your system theme.
PRs
How to verify the MSIXBundle's authenticity:
gh attestation verify "Path To MSIXBundle" --repo HotCakeX/Harden-Windows-Security --format json
You can install the GitHub CLI from Winget:
winget install --id GitHub.cli
Contributors
Assets 8
AppControl Manager 2.0.27.0
Installation
Install it from the Microsoft Store: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9png1jddtgp8
What's New
-
🚀 Improved performance across the board by utilizing newer APIs and language features.
-
✨ Added support for Protocol Activation.
-
You can now launch the AppControl Manager with the following URI:
appcontrol-manager:. -
You can also pass arguments to it like this
appcontrol-manager:--action=FileHashes--file=C:\Users\program.exe. -
The protocol activation feature is mostly introduced to be used by the OS itself or other programs.
-
This feature enables you to launch AppControl Manager directly from the Microsoft Recall in order to trace back the actions you performed at specific moments in time in the past.
-
Note that you can prevent Recall from taking screenshot of the AppControl Manager by enabling the Screen Shield feature in the app settings.
-
You can control this feature in the app setting via the "Publish Activity In The OS" toggle button.
-
Tip
For instance, if you opened a file 2 weeks ago to view its hashes or certificates, or if you opened or modified an App Control policy in the Policy editor few days ago, you can now tap on the smart action in Recall to continue your action or trace it back, providing the same file still exists on your device.
-
🔝 Updated NuGet dependencies.
-
🛼 Created a new workflow that includes a new button design that allows cancellation of tasks that you initiate. When you first press the button, it starts the task that you selected, starts showing pulsating effect as shadows, and if you press the same button again, you have the ability to safely cancel the task that you started. This new behavior will be available for all of the buttons that initiate long running tasks and in this update, it is available only in the Deny policy creation page for Files and Folders section. In the next update it will expand to cover the rest of the features. As always, please feel free to share feedback on GitHub or through other channels if you like.
-
🌐 Improved localization.
Here is a demo of the cancel workflow and its animation
PRs
How to verify the MSIXBundle's authenticity:
gh attestation verify "Path To MSIXBundle" --repo HotCakeX/Harden-Windows-Security --format json
You can install the GitHub CLI from Winget:
winget install --id GitHub.cli
Contributors
Assets 8
AppControl Manager 2.0.26.0
Installation
Install it from the Microsoft Store: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9png1jddtgp8
What's New
-
On Copilot+ PCs, you will be able to use Recall to navigate to the different pages you were using at specific points in time in AppControl Manager.
-
Added a new option in the app's Settings page called Screen Shield. It prevents other apps such as screen recorders from recording or taking screenshots of the window of the AppControl Manager. This option also prevents Recall from taking screenshots of the app.
-
You can now change the app's language without the need to restart the app. Every text on the UI will instantly change to the language you select at runtime.
-
Added smooth animation to all of the Info Bars throughout the app when they transition between open and closed states.
-
Added beautiful shadow to all of the Content Dialogs throughout the app to enhance the visual depth and focus on the content.
-
Fixed the texts on the radial gauges not being visible in light theme. They are now aware of the current app theme.
-
Fixed the Info Bar in the "Build New Certificate" page, it didn't have correct bindings for its open/closed states.
-
Fixed an issue in the "System Information" page where the text showing the type of the policy you're trying to swap to wouldn't be visible on the Content Dialog.
-
Added new RMM products to the RMM blocking policy.
-
Updated the NuGet dependencies to the latest versions.
The new Info Bar animation
2025-06-01.16-04-22.mp4
Content Dialog Shadow (New)
Content Dialog Shadow (Old)
PRs
How to verify the MSIXBundle's authenticity:
gh attestation verify "Path To MSIXBundle" --repo HotCakeX/Harden-Windows-Security --format json
You can install the GitHub CLI from Winget:
winget install --id GitHub.cli
Contributors
Assets 8
AppControl Manager 2.0.25.0
Installation
Install it from the Microsoft Store: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9png1jddtgp8
What's New
-
Introduced a tailor-made policy in the Create New Policy page to block Remote Management and Monitoring software, mitigating the recent surge in RMM-based attacks. This policy prevents execution of known RMM tools and thwarts unauthorized remote access. Administrators may enable, disable or deploy it in Audit mode to monitor activity within the network. It covers an extensive catalog of executables by filename and directory path—regardless of drive letter—and can be extended by submitting additional entries via GitHub Issues.
-
Updated the View File Certificates feature to function without Administrator privileges.
-
Added a modern Windows 11–style "AppControl Manager" entry to the File Explorer right-click (or tap-and-hold) interface, granting instant access to certificate inspection, hash calculation, and direct launching of XML/CIP files in the Policy Editor. Future enhancements will include folder-wide block actions, all implemented with high-performance code to eliminate any delay in the context menu.
-
Enhanced the View File Certificates page with an informative banner that displays essential metadata for the file under inspection.
-
Shrunk the MSIXBundle footprint by leveraging an architecture-aware build pipeline, resulting in a leaner app package.
PRs
How to verify the MSIXBundle's authenticity:
gh attestation verify "Path To MSIXBundle" --repo HotCakeX/Harden-Windows-Security --format json
You can install the GitHub CLI from Winget:
winget install --id GitHub.cli