Grouping Policy Direction is a feature reserved for the Professional, Enterprise, and Instruction editions of Windows. Merely with a few tweaks, Home users can enable the Local Group Policy Editor, or you tin employ a tertiary-party tool to admission a more comprehensive collection of settings. We show yous both options.

Update: Contempo versions of Windows 10 take decoupled settings available in the Local Group Policy Editor in Windows 10 Home. You might all the same encounter the all settings mentioned below, but changing them might not have an consequence on your system.

How to Open the Local Group Policy Editor

Yous tin access the Local Group Policy Editor in several ways.

Here are the 2 near user-friendly ones:

  1. Printing Win + R to open the Run carte, enter gpedit.msc, and hit Enter to launch the Local Group Policy Editor.
  2. Press Win to open the search bar or, if yous're using Windows 10, press Win + Q to summon Cortana, enter gpedit.msc, and open the corresponding result.

If this doesn't piece of work, you either don't take Ambassador privileges, or you're running Windows Domicile and don't have admission to the Local Group Policy Editor.

Fortunately, you lot don't have to upgrade to the Pro edition of Windows to tweak group policies. We explain how to enable the Local Group Policy Editor on Windows Dwelling below, but we recommend checking out the post-obit third-party tool first.

How to Configure Windows Settings Without the Grouping Policy Editor

Before you endeavour to enable the Local Group Policy Editor, consider using a more user-friendly and more powerful culling. Policy Plus is an open-source tool that gives you lot admission to settings in the Grouping Policy Editor and the Windows Registry.

Policy Plus is uniform with all Windows editions. It requires .Net Framework version four.5 or up. We recommend installing the more stable Release build. Once installed, go to Help > Larn ADMX Files, double-check the destination folder, and click Brainstorm to download additional administrative templates.

If you've e'er dabbled with the native Windows Group Policy Editor, the interface of Policy Plus will wait familiar. The categories in the left-hand column, nonetheless, follow a slightly unlike logic that we find easier to navigate.

Policy Plus Add Remove Programs

If you're using the Windows Home edition, switch to see settings in the Computer category just, since your system will ignore changes to per-user Group Policy Objects; yous'll need to make those changes in the Windows Registry instead.

Changing the settings works just like it does in the Group Policy Editor; more than on that below. Annotation that if y'all're using Windows Domicile, you'll have to restart or log off and back on to activate changes.

How to Enable the Local Group Policy Editor in Windows Abode

Whether you're on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows viii.1, or Windows 10 Home, you can enable the Grouping Policy Editor using i of the two solutions below.

Solution ane: Apply the Add GPEDIT.msc Installer

The proper installation with this tool requires a couple of tweaks and .NET Framework version 3.5 or higher.

First, head to C:\Windows\SysWOW64 and copy these items:

  • GroupPolicy binder
  • GroupPolicyUsers folder
  • gpedit.msc file

And then open C:\Windows\System32 and paste the items you just copied.

Now download the Add together GPEDIT.msc ZIP file from DeviantArt user Drudger and install information technology on your reckoner. You will need a DevianArt account.

Where to find the Add GPEDIT.msc download button on DeviantArt.

Following the installation, yous will find the tool under C:\Windows\Temp\gpedit. You might have to manually navigate to that folder.

If your Windows username contains more than one give-and-take, you might take to adjust your installation. Right-click x64.bat or x86.bat, depending on whether your organisation is 64-flake or 32-bit, and select Open with... > Notepad or Edit (Windows 10). Add quotes to the six instances of %username%, i.east., alter %username% to "%username%", save your changes, and so right-click the BAT file again, and select Run as administrator.

If y'all proceed to get the "MMC could not create snap-in" error, effort replacing "%username%" with "%userdomain%\%username%".

Solution 2: Employ the GPEDIT Enabler BAT

If you lot can't detect a gpedit.msc file on your system, or if the previous method didn't work, attempt this.

Open up Notepad, enter the code beneath, and save the file as Enabler.bat.

          @echo            off
            pushd            "%~dp0"

dir /b %SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientExtensions-Package~three.mum >Listing.txt dir /b %SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientTools-Packet~3.mum >>List.txt

for /f %%i in ('findstr /i . List.txt 2^>nul') exercise dism /online /norestart /add together-package:"%SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\%%i" pause Then right-click the BAT file you lot just created and select Run every bit ambassador. A command window volition open up, and the BAT file volition run through several installations. Await until you encounter Press any key to keep at the lesser; doing so will shut the control window.

Command window showing the installation of gpedit.msc using the Enabler BAT file.

Now endeavour to open up gpedit.msc as described above. If y'all can't find gpedit.msc using the search, be certain to try opening information technology using the Run window.

Courtesy to ITECHTICS for pointing the states to this method.

How to Alter Grouping Policy Editor Settings

Now that yous tin admission the Local Grouping Policy Editor, what are you going to practice with it?

The number of settings available in the Grouping Policy Editor has been shrinking, and things you used to be able to do at present crave a registry tweak. But you can withal discover a few gems, and we'll show y'all how.

Inside the Grouping Policy Editor, you can find settings affecting the Computer Configuration or the User Configuration and three sub-categories for each of them. Browse the Administrative Templates to discover the most interesting settings.

The Local Group Policy Editor window.

Change Windows Update Settings

Let'southward have a look at Estimator Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update, anybody'southward well-nigh favorite Windows characteristic. You'll detect that near of the settings here are Not configured.

Windows Update settings in the Local Group Policy Editor's Computer Configuration section.

To modify one of the settings, for case, to Configure Automated Updates, double-click the item, and so review the available settings in the properties window that pops up, and alter them to your preferences. In this example, yous could change the setting to Enabled, and then cull selection iii - Windows Auto download and notify for install, followed by your preferred installation day and time. When y'all're done, click Utilise.

Configuring the Automatic Update setting in the Local Group Policy Editor.

The Group Policy Editor as well offers settings to pause or stop Windows Update and ways to control Driver Updates in Windows 10.

Adjust Windows Installer Defaults

Are you sharing your computer with others and wand to prevent them from installing software? Head to Figurer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Installer > Disable Windows Installer** and enable this option for non-managed apps only or always.

Disable Windows Installer in Local Group Policy Editor

Other Windows Installer-related settings you lot can actuate include:

  • Always install with elevated privileges
  • Prohibit rollback or patching
  • Logging
  • Prohibit User Installs
  • Prohibit removal of updates

Be sure to read the description for each to sympathise what each setting does. Proceed in mind that settings applied inside Computer Configuration utilise to all users. If y'all want to limit only specific users, switch to the User Configuration track instead.

Level Up With Windows Group Policy

The Group Policy Editor is a treasure trove of powerful Windows settings. While its importance has declined since the introduction of Windows 10 and will further lose importance when Windows 11 launches, information technology still offers many ways to customize your Windows setup. And at present Dwelling users have admission to these settings, too.