Download & install Group Policy Editor on Home Edition
- If you install Group Policy Editor in Windows 10 Home it will help you customize your system.
- The Group Policy Editor wasn't included in Windows 10 Home because the OS cannot join a domain in Active Directory.
- A solution to enable the Group Policy Management Console is to download and configure it as shown in our guide below.
- Another solution to edit the Group Policy is to use the third-party software we recommended in our solution.
The Group Policy Editor is a really handy tool for Windows operating systems. It can be used for solving a huge variety of problems, but not all versions of Windows have it pre-installed.
Only Windows Pro, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions come with this tool, while it’s not featured in the Home edition. That was the case in previous versions of Windows, that’s also the case in Windows 10.
Some programmers/Windows enthusiasts found a way to install the Group Policy Editor on every version of Windows.
Windows7forum’s davehc created his own installer for Group Policy Editor (and user @jwills876 posted it on DeviantArt).
And thanks to these guys, we can show you how to install the Group Policy Management Console on every version of Windows, including Windows 10 Home.
How can I install Group Policy Editor on Windows 10 Home?
1. Download the Group Policy Editor enabler
- Download the installer from jwills876’s DeviantArt page.
- Before you run a downloader, you’ll need to go to the following location and copy the GroupPolicy and GroupPolicyUsers folders and the gpedit.msc file:
C:\Windows\SysWOW64
- Paste them in the following folder:
C:\Windows\System32 - Now, run the installer, follow the instructions, but close it at the last step (don’t hit the Finish button).
- Now, go to the following folder:
C:\Windows\Temp\gpedit - Right-click on x86.bat (or x32.bat, if you’re running a 32-bit version of Windows Home), choose Open With, and select Notepad (If you don’t like Notepad and want some more alternatives, you can check out this list with the best note taking apps).
- In the document, you’ll find a total of 6 code lines which contain the following string: %username%:f
- Replace every %username%:f with “%username%:”f (for example, replace %WinDir%SysWOW64gpedit.dll /grant:r %username%:f with icacls %WinDir%SysWOW64gpedit.dll /grant:r “%username%”:f)
- Now, just save the file, and run it as Administrator.
If nothing happens when you click on Run as administrator, check out this useful guide to fix the issue.
Also, if copy-paste isn’t working and you can’t move the above-mentioned folders, follow this guide to fix the problem quickly.
That’s that, after performing this, you should be able to run Group Policy Editor on your Windows 10 Home. We also should mention that this method is originally for Windows 7, but it also works well on Windows 10.
We also need to mention that this is not an official fix from Microsoft so you should use it carefully.
2. Use DISM to install the Group Policy Editor
- The packages for the Group Policy Editor can be found under %SystemRoot%servicingPackages.
- There are two files matching the Group Policy Editor:
- Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientExtensions-Package*.mum, and
- Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientTools-Package*.mum.
- Type cmd in the Search box and click on Run as administrator to start Command Prompt.
- Paste the following command and press Enter to run it :
dism /online /norestart /add-package:"%SystemRoot%servicingPackages{{PackageFileName}}
If you can’t find the Group Policy Editor in Windows 10, it also might be disabled so follow the steps above to enable it.
3. How can I open the Group Policy Editor?
- Press the Windows key + R to start the Run console.
- Type gpedit.msc and click OK or press Enter.
- Now the Group Policy editor should start and allow you to change the policies.
However, we have to specify that the policy editing only works locally because Windows 10 Home cannot join a domain in Active Directory, probably the main cause why the editor wasn’t included.
4. Use third-party software for group policy editing
- Download Policy Plus from Github.
- You don’t need to install anything because it is a portable app.
- Policy Plus will start immediately.
As you can see, another way of editing the group policy on any Windows system, including the Home version is the Policy Plus app.
It’s almost exactly the same as the Group Policy editor but it also has a search feature that helps you find certain policies.
Do you know how to edit the Group Policy? Learn how you can do it by reading this article.
If you find this article too difficult to understand, we also have another excellent guide on how to enable gpedit.msc on Windows 10 Home.
If you encountered other Group Policy bugs that we didn’t cover, feel free to use the comments below. Give us more details about these issues and we’ll try to find a solution as soon as possible.
