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.
Method 2: Registry Edit
[symple_box color=”yellow” fade_in=”false” float=”center” text_align=”left” width=””] Registry Editing can be dangerous and should be done with care. Please make a restore point before editing your registry. If you have doubts about what you are doing, then stop immediately and ask for support in the comments. We would like to remind you that editing your registry is at your own risk. If done wrong Registry Editing can lead to system corruption and might even render your system unusable resulting in re-installation of your operating system.[/symple_box]
HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Group Policy Objects\{124BD664-E3BD-420F-9B86-906E5A6D9329}User\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\NoControlPanel
1. On your keyboard press the Windows flag and the R key at the same time (Windows +R) or open Start.
2. Now type Regedit.exe (1) and click on OK (2)
3. Now Unfold HKEY_CURRENT_USER
4. Then Unfold SOFTWARE
5. Then Unfold Microsoft
6. Then Unfold Windows
7. Then Unfold CurrentVersion
8. Then Unfold Policies
9. Then Unfold Explorer
10. Now double-click on NoControlPanel and change the value of NoControlPanel to 1
If the key does not exists then right-click an empty spot and choose New then choose DWORD.
11. Click on OK and close Regedit. A reboot might be necessary for the changes to take effect upon your system.
If you wish to disable this tweak at a later moment just repeat the steps above and change the value back to the original value, which was 0. If you have any questions about this tweak, please feel free to ask them on our forums