What to do if Regedit doesn’t save changes [FULL GUIDE]

Former Managing Editor

June 7, 2019

If you’re trying to make Registry key changes and you notice that they don’t save after rebooting, be sure that you’re not the only one dealing with this issue.

This is a common complaint amongst Windows 10 users.

Regedit not saving values
Has anyone else come across problems with regedit not saving values?
I’m changing some values to change the size of a program on launch but every time I launch the program the values revert.

This problem is caused by account ownership status and permissions issues.

In order to obtain permission to change Registry keys, follow our guide described below.

Windows 10 Registry Editor doesn’t save my changes

Press the Windows logo key + R on your keyboard > type regedit in the Run box to open the Registry Editor
If you get a User Account Control dialog box, select OK
Open the location of the key you want to change in the Registry Editor
Right click on the key > open Permissions…
Select Advanced
If your user is not the owner, choose Change
Type your user name in the Enter the object name to select box > click Check Names > press OK
Now you should have your name displayed as owner
If you want to take ownership of the subkeys as well, check the box next to Replace owner on subcontainers and objects > select Apply
Press the Disable inheritance button if it is available
Click Add
Click Select a principal in the Permission Entry window
In the Enter the object name to select, enter your name > select Check names > click OK
In the Permission Entry window under Basic permission, check the box next to Full control > click OK
If you want to apply the same permission rules to all the subkeys, check the box next to Replace all child object permissions with inheritable permissions from this object > click OK
If you then decide to remove your permission, simply uncheck the Full control box or remove your name from the Group or user names box.