How to Open the Local Group Policy Editor – 7 Ways

When using a computer to change operating system settings, many users are advised by online instructions to change their local group policy settings. In this regard, the question arises of how to open the Local Group Policy Editor in Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7.

The Local Group Policy Editor is a built-in tool in the Windows operating system designed to manage the group policy of computers that are not members of a domain. With this tool, you can configure a large number of operating system settings: enable or disable Windows features, prevent certain programs from running, apply restrictions for users, etc.

Content:

1. How to open the local group policy editor with a command from the Run window – 1 way
2. How to open the Local Group Policy Editor from Windows Search – Method 2
3. How to launch the Local Group Policy Editor from Windows Explorer – Method 3
4. Opening the Group Policy Editor from the Management Console – Method 4
5. Launching the Local Group Policy Editor at the Command Prompt – Method 5
6. Opening the Local Policy Editor in Windows PowerShell – Method 6
7. Running the gpedit file – method 7
8. Article Conclusions

The system tool – Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) only works on older versions of Windows:

• in Windows 10 Professional (Professional), Education (for educational institutions), Enterprise (Corporate);
• in Windows 8.1 Professional (Professional), Enterprise (Corporate);
• in Windows 8 Professional (Professional), Enterprise (Corporate);
• in Windows 7 Professional (Professional), Ultimate (Maximum), Enterprise (Corporate).

Users of home versions of Windows are out of luck because Microsoft decided not to provide this tool, as they see it as less inexperienced users. Therefore, this article contains instructions suitable for owners of older versions of Windows.

In this guide, we will analyze many ways to launch the Local Group Policy Editor that work on Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7 operating systems.

How to open the local group policy editor with a command from the Run window – 1 way

To launch the Group Policy Editor, you can use the command launched from the Run window. Various Windows tools, tools, or applications are launched from this window.

Do the following:

1. Press the “Win” + “R” keys.
2. In the “Run” dialog box, in the “Open:” field, enter the expression: “gpedit.msc” (without quotes), and then click on the “OK” button.
3. The Local Group Policy Editor window will open on the computer desktop.

How to open the Local Group Policy Editor from Windows Search – Method 2

In the second way, we will open the editor using the built-in Windows search. For this, we will apply an identical command.

Do the steps:

1. Go to the Windows search bar (the way to open the search differs in different versions of the operating system).
2. In the search field, enter the expression: “gpedit.msc” (without quotes)
3. The Windows search engine will show the result of your query. You will need to open the app.

How to launch the Local Group Policy Editor from Windows Explorer – Method 3

The Windows operating system has a built-in file manager – Explorer. You can open the Group Policy Editor using Windows Explorer.

Go through the following steps:

1. Launch File Explorer from the Taskbar.
2. In the open Explorer window, in the “Location” field, enter “gpedit.msc” (without quotes).

1. Press the “Enter” key.
2. A separate Local Group Policy Editor window will open on the computer.

Opening the Group Policy Editor from the Management Console – Method 4

Another way is to use the Microsoft Management Console – MMC (Microsoft Management Console). We will run the Local Computer Policy as a console snap-in.

Follow the steps below:

1. Press the keyboard keys “Win” + “R”.
2. In the Run window, type “mmc” (without quotes).
3. Press the “Enter” key.
4. In the “Console 1 – [Console Root]” window that opens, go to the “File” menu, select “Add or remove snap-in …”.
5. In the “Add/Remove Snap-Ins” window, in the “Available Snap-Ins” area, select “Group Policy Object Editor”, and then click the “Add” button.

1. In the “Select Group Policy Object” window, click the “Finish” button.

1. In the Add/Remove Snap-Ins window, click the OK button.
2. In the Console 1 – [Console Root] window, click the Local Computer Policy snap-in to open the Local Group Policy Editor in the Management Console window.

See also: Installing the Local Group Policy Editor in Window 10 Home

Launching the Local Group Policy Editor at the Command Prompt – Method 5

Built-in operating system tool – Windows Command Prompt will help us open the Group Policy Editor.

You will need to run the appropriate command:

1. Run command prompt as administrator.
2. In the command line interpreter window, type the command “gpedit.msc” (without quotes), and then press the “Enter” key.

The Local Group Policy Editor opens on the desktop.

Opening the Local Policy Editor in Windows PowerShell – Method 6

This method is similar to the previous one, with the only difference being that another built-in tool, Windows PowerShell, is used instead of the command line.

1. Run Windows PowerShell as an administrator.
2. In the “Administrator: Windows PowerShell” window, run the command: “gpedit.msc” (without quotes).

Running the gpedit file – method 7

This method involves launching the Local Group Policy Editor directly from the tool file located in the Windows system folder.

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You need to do the following:

1. Open Windows Explorer and then follow the path:

C:\Windows\System32

1. In the “System32” folder, find the “gpedit” file.

1. Double-click on the file with the left mouse button to launch the Group Policy Editor.

To facilitate access to gpedit.msc, create a shortcut to the file, from which you can then launch the local group policy editor:

1. Right-click on the “gpedit” file located in the “System32” folder.
2. In the context menu that opens, first select “Send to”, and then “Desktop (create shortcut).

A shortcut will appear on the desktop of your computer to launch the system tool. For more convenience, the application shortcut can be pinned to the Control Panel or the Start menu.

Article Conclusions

When working on a computer, some users need to use the services of a system tool – the Local Group Policy Editor, to configure the settings of the Windows operating system. You can open the Local Group Policy Editor in several ways: from the Run dialog box, using Windows Search, from File Explorer, from the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), from the command line or Windows PowerShell, by launching the “gpedit” file from the system folder.