In this tutorial I will show you How to Block Access to Control Panel and block PC Settings in Windows 10 to prevent changes being made to your system. This option blocks the old fashion Control Panel but the new PC Settings as well. Be careful with this guide, since you lock yourself out of the control panel!
The Tweak
Method 1: Local Group Policy Editor
The easiest way to Block Access to Control Panel and PC Settings in Windows 10 is using the Group Policy Editor
1. Press the Windows + R key on your keyboard
2. A run Window will appear, now type gpedit.msc and click on OK
If you get a message that the program cannot be found, then your Windows version does not have Group Policy editor, it’s only included in Windows 8 Pro, Enterprise en Windows 10 Pro (and higher) skip to the registry edit method
3. Under User Configuration unfold Administrative Templates
4. Now unfold Control Panel
5. Double-click Prohibit access to Control Panel and PC settings and choose Enabled
6. Click on OK and then close Group Policy Editor
You might need to sign-out and sign-in for the changes to take effect.
I have several Windows 10 Home laptops used by students and wish to restrict access to Control Panel and settings. I tried this method but found no Explorer and NoControlPanel keys under Policies. I created the but not sure if I did this correctly as access to Settings still exists. Help?
You should create the key:NoControlPanel in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Once you did that, reboot your computer and try to see if Control Panel still works, it should be locked for the current user. If not then feel free to ask me for more help 🙂