How to add Local Group Policy Editor to Control Panel in Windows

Although there are many ways to open Local Group Policy Editor on a Windows 11/10 PC, if you want to open it from the Control Panel, then this post will help you. You can add the Local Group Policy Editor to the Control Panel on your Windows 11/10 system using the Registry Editor. Before you do this, we advise you to back up the Registry Editor as it will be helpful if something goes wrong.

The Local Group Policy Editor is a handy tool that allows users to make various changes in the system. Whether you want to prevent users from changing Date and Time or disable web searches, you can do everything with the help of GPEDIT. The fastest way to open this tool is by using the taskbar Search box or the Run Command box. However, if you often open the Control Panel, you might want to add it there as well.

How to add Local Group Policy Editor to Control Panel in Windows 11/10

To add the Local Group Policy Editor to the Control Panel on your Windows 11/10 computer, follow these steps-

Open Notepad on your computer.
Paste the following text content in the file.
Click the File menu.
Select the Save as option.
Select a location where you want to save the file.
Name it anything and add .reg at the end as the extension.
Select All files from Save as type.
Click the Save button.
Double-click on the .reg file.
Select Yes in the UAC prompt.
Click the Yes button in the next pop-up window.
Open the Control Panel to find the Local Group Policy Editor option.

You need to create a .reg file with the required text content. For that, open the Notepad on your computer and paste the following text-

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{9cd0827e-0ad1-4c27-93d0-29f4c4ecd3b2}]
@="Local Group Policy Editor"
"InfoTip"="Starts the Local Group Policy Editor"
"System.ControlPanel.Category"="5"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{9cd0827e-0ad1-4c27-93d0-29f4c4ecd3b2}\DefaultIcon]
@="%SYSTEMROOT%\\System32\\gpedit.dll"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{9cd0827e-0ad1-4c27-93d0-29f4c4ecd3b2}\Shell\Open\Command]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6d,00,6d,00,\
63,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,20,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,\
00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,\
33,00,32,00,5c,00,67,00,70,00,65,00,64,00,69,00,74,00,2e,00,6d,00,73,00,63,\
00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ControlPanel\NameSpace\{9cd0827e-0ad1-4c27-93d0-29f4c4ecd3b2}]
@="Local Group Policy Editor"

Open the File menu and select Save as option. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl+Shift+S hotkey as well.

After that, select a path in the Save as window where you want to save the file. Name it anything like TheWindowsClub, use .reg as the file extension, select All files option from Save as type drop-down menu, and click the Save button.

Now double-click on the .reg file you saved and select Yes in the UAC prompt. After that, you need to click the same button again to add the Registry values in the Registry Editor.

After completing these steps, you should find the Local Group Policy Editor in the Control Panel.

In case you want to remove the Local Group Policy Editor window option from the Control Panel on your Windows 11/10 computer, you need to open Registry Editor, and navigate to this path-

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\

Then, delete this key from there-

{9cd0827e-0ad1-4c27-93d0-29f4c4ecd3b2}

That’s all!

How do I enable Local Group Policy Editor in Windows 11/10?

If you aren’t able to access Local Group Policy Editor on your Windows 11/10 PC, open the Registry Editor window. After that, navigate to the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\gpsvc

There, double-click on the Start name DWORD (32-bit) Value option. A small box will pop-up. Add 2 in the Value data field, and press OK. Finally, restart your system and you will be able to access and use the Local Group Policy Editor.

Why is GPEDIT not recognized in Windows 11/10?

GPEDIT command that is used to open the Local Group Policy Editor window works in the Pro edition of Windows 11/10. So, if you are using the Home edition of Windows 11/10, then the GPEDIT command won’t be recognized or work. In that case, you need to manually add Group Policy Editor to the Home edition of your Windows 11/10 computer. After that, the command will start working.