Enable Group Policy in Windows 10

lowdown · 30 Aug 2016

Have just read the the 'Local Group Policy Editor' is not included in Windows 10 home edition.
1. If true how to get it ?
2. What is it used for ?

Brink · 30 Aug 2016

Hello lowdown, :)

Here's some more information below about the Local Group Policy Editor.

Local Group Policy Editor

The only safe way to get it is to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. There are some hacks out there that claim to add it to the unsupported Home edition, but these don't work, and could cause issues.

You can set group policies manually in Registry Editor instead though. You can look up a group policy at the link below to find out where to add and modify it in the registry.

Group Policy Search

LMiller7 · 30 Aug 2016

Group Policy is a complex system that consists of much more than the editor that is just the user interface. It is not just the editor that is missing from home editions of Windows but the infrastructure that supports it.

Group Policy is an advanced method of controlling registry entries, not just in the local machine but in a domain environment it can provide centralized control over many thousands of computers, providing a level of control that would otherwise be impossible. That is the major reason why it was developed. It is a major upgrade of System Policy as found in NT4 and earlier versions. Home editions lack the ability to join a domain so Group Policy, if supported, would be limited in it's usefulness. But it is still useful on the local computer for editions that support it.