Overview – Reset Group Policy in Windows
The Local Group Policy is a collection of rules and configurations that are applied to users and machines in a single domain or workgroup. It seems that you have mistakenly misconfigured the group policy settings while modifying it, due to which you are facing some functionality and usability issues while operating the device.
Before we proceed further, if your device is connected to an Active Directory or a corporate network, then these methods will not apply since the Network Administrator is responsible to control these settings.
By the end of this article, you’ll be able to reset the local group policy in Windows:
NOTE: Windows 11 Home Edition doesn’t include the local group policy. Therefore, if you are currently running Windows 11 Home, it would be best not to waste your valuable time looking into this. Although, feel free to explore in order to enhance your knowledge.
1. Reset Group Policy using Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)
How does this method work?
All the Local Group Policy settings are set to “Not Configured” by default. In the steps below, we’ll simply identify the settings other than default ones that are either set to “Enabled” or “Disabled” and revert them to “Not Configured”.
Step 1: In the Start menu, search for Edit Group Policy and hit the enter key or press the “Windows Key + R” to open Windows Run, type: gpedit.msc and press the enter key.
Step 2: In the group policy editor, navigate to the following path:
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > All Settings.
Step 3: Click the “State” column/section to sort settings by their active category – “Enabled”, “Disabled”, and “Not Configured” and you’ll see the Enabled and Disabled settings arranged at the top of the list.
Step 4: Now, double click the settings with the “Enabled” or “Disabled” state, select the “Not Configured” option, and press the “Apply” button.
Step 5: To update the group policy without restarting the computer, open the command prompt, type the following command, and hit the enter key:
gpupdate /force.
Step 6: To let the group policy detect whether or not to restart the device to make changes and configure it properly, type the following command:
gpupdate /boot.
NOTE: If you are not viewing the sorted list with the “Enabled” or “Disabled” state after clicking the “Status” option, it means that no changes were made to Local Group Policy on your device and all the group policy settings are already set to default.
2. Reset Group Policy using Command Prompt (CMD)
Step 1: In the Start menu, search for Command Prompt and run it as an administrator.
Step 2: To reset the group policy user configurations, type the following command:
RD /S /Q “%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicyUsers” and then type:
RD /S /Q “%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicy” to reset Group Policy.
Also, you can run both the command at once using the command below:
RD /S /Q “%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicyUsers” && RD /S /Q “%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicy”.
Here, “&&” is an operator used to separate both the commands.
Step 3: To update the group policy after committing the changes, type the following command and press the enter key:
gpupdate /force
Step 4: To let the Windows detect whether or not to restart the device to make changes and configure the group policy properly, type the command:
gpupdate /boot.
NOTE: If you are receiving the message stating “The system cannot find the file specified”, it means that no changes were made in Local Group Policy on your device and all the group policy settings are already set to default.
FAQs Related to Resetting Group Policy
How do I refresh Group Policy in Windows 11?
Once you type the command: gpupdate /force, press the enter key, and the group policy will be refreshed on your version of Windows. However, the group policy is refreshed automatically once you boot your device, as a result, it keeps getting refreshed periodically.
How often does a computer refresh Group Policy?
As per Microsoft, group policy is automatically updated after every restart and refreshed after every 90 minutes with a randomized offset of up to 30 minutes.
Next Steps
We’ve covered how to reset group policy in Windows 11. You can use any one of the methods that you feel convenient to follow.
It’s a good idea to perform a group policy reset in Windows, especially when you keep making changes in the Windows built-in configurations. Resetting your group policy is one of the best ways to fix a computer that has become unresponsive and often faces bugs and glitches.
Further, configure the device’s settings by following the related articles below.
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