When you are configuring your Windows settings, you are taking the help of Group Policy Editor or GPEdit.msc. This is Windows’ configuration manager. By using this, you will not require to enter the Windows Registry. All you have to do is to use the group policy editor to customize all the aspects of Windows.
However, this can only be found in the Windows 10 Pro version. You will not find this tool in the Windows 10 Home edition. As a matter of fact, this is not available in any of the Starter or Home edition of Window XP, 7, 8.1, or 10. So, if you are facing the “gpedit.msc not found” error, then you must check the version of Windows you are using.
The absence of a group policy editor is a serious drawback for these Windows versions. Changing your settings with a group policy editor is safer than using the Windows Registry. This is because the changes made with the group policy editor can be changed back unlike the changes made in the Windows Registry which becomes permanent. So, let us see how a Windows 10 Home version user can use a group policy editor.
How to open gpedit.msc on Windows 10?
So, let us see the methods that will help you to open a grout policy editor on Windows 10.
1. Enabling Windows 10 Group Policy Editor
As I have said earlier, you will be able to use group policy editor on Windows 10 Home version even though it comes in-built only in the Windows Enterprise and Pro version. However, before you start the process, you must do a backup of your system.
Give the name of “windows-home-gpedit-hack.bat” to the saved file after you copy the given codes in a notepad file.
@echo off
pushd “%~dp0”
dir /b %SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientExtensions-Package~3*.mum >List.txt
dir /b %SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientTools-Package~3*.mum >>List.txt
for /f %%i in (‘findstr /i . List.txt 2^>nul’) do dism /online /norestart /add-package:”%SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\%%i”
pause
Then, go to the field of “Save as type” and select the option of “All Files”. You have to save the file as a .bat file rather than a .txt file. Also, ensure that the option of “Hide extensions for the known file types” is disabled. This will be located under the option of “View tab”.
Now, go to the .bat file and right-click on it. From the pop-up menu, you have to select the option of “Run as administrator”. After this, you will have to give the permissions that will appear on the screen.
Now, check if you are able to use gpedit.msc Windows 10. If not, you can move to the next solution.
2. Use GPEdit Installer to enable the Group Policy editor
In the Home version of Windows 10, the group policy editor does not come pre-installed. So, you have to download it from the official website of Microsoft. After downloading, you have to install it on your computer. When you will run this setup, it will automatically have the policy editor installed on your Windows.
If you are using a Windows (x86) 32-bit, the setup will be installed in the computer smoothly. After that, you will be able to use the Group Policy very easily. To open the Microsoft Management Console, you have to open the Run box by pressing the R and Windows keys simultaneously. Then, type “gpedit.msc” and the Group Policy Editor will appear on the screen.
However, if you are using a Windows (x86) 64-bit, then there are some extra steps that you need to follow to access the group policy editor. The steps are as follows:-
- Open the C drive of your computer. Then, go to the folder of “Windows” and then to the “SysWOW64” folder.
- From here, you have to copy the folders of “gpedit.msc”, “GroupPolicyUsers”, and “GroupPolicy” to the folder of “System32”. To go to this folder, you have to open your C drive and open the “Windows” folder. Here, you will be able to locate the “System 32” folder.
After completing this procedure, you will be able to access gpedit.msc windows 10 from the dialog box of Run.
Fix for the common gpedit.msc running problems
While starting the group policy editor if you face the error message of “MMC could not create the snap-in”, then you can follow the steps given below to solve this problem:-
- Open the C drive of your computer and go to the “Windows” folder. Then, go to the folder of “Temp” and then make sure that the “gpedit” is there.
- After that, you have to download the zip file of “gpedit-temp-files-x86x64” on your computer. You have to extract this zip file in the ‘gpedit” folder. You can access it by going to the location of C drive, and then to the folder of “Windows”, and then go to the folder of “Temp”. The file of “gpedit” will be located here.
- If you are running a 64-bit Windows 10, you have to run the x64.bat, and if you are running 32-bit Windows, you have to run the x86.bat. You have to ensure that you are running these files as administrator.
After completing this process, you will face no problems in opening the group policy editor that you were experiencing before.
3. Using PowerShell script to install GPEdit.msc
This is another method of installing the group policy editor on your computer. If you are unable to use the previous methods, you can try this method.
- Go to the official website of Microsoft and download the script of GPEdit Enabler. This script of PowerShell will help to install the Group Policy features, which were disabled on Windows 10 Home.
- Now, go to the location where the downloaded file got saved and right-click on it. From the pop-up menu, you have to select the option of “Run as Administrator”.
- The process of installation will take some time to complete. This time will depend on the performance of your system. When the installation will be completed, you can close the window of the command prompt by pressing any key.
- After that, open the dialog box of run by pressing the R and the Windows keys. In the Run box, you have to type “gpedit.msc”. The group policy editor will open up on the screen.
- Now, restart your computer.
After the computer turns back on, you will be able to use gpedit.msc without any problem.
4. Download Policy Plus
This is a tool for Windows which helps the users to use group policy editor on all versions of Windows 10. You have to download the tool from the official website of Microsoft. After the download is complete, run the .exe file. You will be able to make the changes in policies just like in the group policy editor which comes in-built with the Windows.
Conclusion
I hope that you have understood how to open gpedit.msc in Windows 10. These are very effective and easy methods and you will have no problem in following them. So, try these methods and start using the group policy editor on your Windows 10 today.