where is gpedit in windows 11?

Group Policy Editor (Gpedit.msc), which is a configuration manager used to configure all settings of Windows. Administrators use Gpedit.msc to implement system changes for all users on the network. Of course, ordinary users may also use Gpedit.msc in the same way to adjust and update the system. When something goes wrong with your Windows, using the Group Policy Editor to make changes to system settings becomes easier and less risky.

However, many users have recently reported that they encountered the problem that Gpedit.msc not found in Windows 11. There are many reasons why Gpedit.msc cannot be found in Windows 11.

Once you understand why Windows cannot open Gpedit.msc, you can read on to learn how do I fix Gpedit.msc. This article will introduce 3 useful methods in turn, you can try one by one, I believe there is always a method that can help you. You can also learn how to better protect the system security.

Reason:  Windows 11 home version does not come with the Group Policy Editor

Since the home version of Windows 11 does not come with the Group Policy Editor. Therefore, you need to check your Windows version first. You just write winver in the search box and hit enter. A box will then appear showing your Windows version details.

If your system is Windows 11 Home, then you have to upgrade your Windows to Professional or Enterprise edition. By upgrading your outdated version of Windows to Advanced, your system will be ready for the Group Policy Editor (Gpedit.msc). If your system is Windows 11 Professional, Business or Enterprise, you can use other methods to solve this can’t find Gpedit.msc problem.

Reason: Corrupted Gpedit.msc

If your system is Windows 11 Business/Pro/Enterprise edition, then the most likely reason of the “Gpedit.msc not found in Windows 11” problem is corrupted Gpedit.msc. In this case, you can use SFC to repair any corrupt system files. You can follow the steps below.

Step 1: Enter the start search box or Win+R and enter cmd to run the command prompt.

Step 2: Then execute SFC by entering the sfc/scannow command on the cmd panel, and click Enter.

Step 3: Now, wait for the completion of the scan operation.

Note: Do not perform any other operations during the scanning process.

Reason: System corruption

If after performing an SFC scan, you still get the Windows cannot find gpedit.msc error, then you can go and use the DISM tool to update the file and restore the problem. DISM can be used in case of system corruption. You can follow the graphic tutorial below.

Step 1: Enter cmd in the Run window to run the command prompt.

Step 2: Then run the DISM command in cmd, enter Dism/Online/Cleanup-Image/RestoreHealth, and click Enter.

Step 3: Now, wait for DISM to get the corrupted files.

Microsoft did not include the Gpedit feature in Windows 11 Home. Therefore, users of Windows 11 Home are limited by the settings of the operating system. All the simple things that can be done quickly and easily with Group Policy have to be edited via the Registry Editor, which is a pain. In this case, there is a solution to install Group Policy without third-party programs. You can use a bat file that contains group policy scripts. Follow the steps below.

Step 1. Right-click on an empty space on the desktop and select New > Text Document. You can name it gpedit.txt.

Step 2. Copy the code below and paste it into the created text document.

@echo off pushd "%~dp0"dir /b %SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientExtensions-Package~3*.mum >List.txt dir /b %SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientTools-Package~3*.mum >>List.txt for /f %%i in ('findstr /i . List.txt 2^>nul') do dism /online /norestart /add-package:"%SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\%%i"pause

Step 3. In a text document, click on the File tab in the upper left corner and select Save As. In a new window, specify the file type All files and change the file extension to .bat, then click save.

Step 4. After you save it, there will be a file with the bat extension on the desktop. You can delete the gpedit.txt file, because it is no longer needed. Right-click on gpedit.bat and select Run as administrator. Next, there will be an automatic installation of group policies in Windows 11 Home.

Step 5. Start Group Policy by pressing the Win + R together and entering gpedit.msc in the Run window.

Gpedit.msc is used to configure windows settings, which helps to solve computer problems. If none of the above methods help you fix the “Gpedit.msc not found in Windows 11” problem, then you may need to reinstall your system to fix it. In order to better protect system security, it is recommended that you develop the habit of regularly backing up your system. In this way, even if your system accidentally has any problems, you can restore directly from the system backup without trying various solutions.

The free backup software AOMEI Backupper Standard is a good choice. It allows you to set different backup frequencies to automatically back up the system on a regular basis. Its incremental backup method can help you effectively improve backup efficiency. You can also backup your system to different paths according to your needs.

You can download this free software, install it and follow the graphic steps below. It supports a variety of Windows systems including Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista/XP. If you are Windows Server user, you can choose the AOMEI Backupper Server version.

Step 1. First open the software, click Backup and then select System Backup.

Step 2. The software will automatically select the system partition and boot-related partitions. So you only need to select a destination.

Step 3. Click Start Backup to backup system before upgrade.

✍ Notes:

Group Policy is a feature of the Microsoft Windows NT family of operating systems (OS) including Window 11, Windows 10, Windows 8.1/8, Windows 7, as well as Windows Server 2003+. It controls the working environment of user accounts and computer accounts.

Group Policy offers centralized management and configuration of OSes, apps, and users’ settings in an Active Directory environment. A set of Group Policy configurations is known as Group Policy Object (GPO). A version of Group Policy called Local Group Policy (LocalGPO or LGPO) allows GPO management without Active Directory on standalone computers.

Therefore, Windows 11 Group Policy Editor refers to the editor that can change Group Policy configurations and settings in Windows 11. Next, let’s see how to open Windows 11 Group Policy in different ways.

Note: The Group Policy isn’t provided on Home Editions of Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP.

To begin with, you can open Win11 Group Policy Editor through the system search utility. Click on the magnifier on the taskbar and type “edit group policy” or “gpedit” in the search bar. Then, click on the best match or click on the Open option to launch Windows 11 Group Policy Editor.

Next, you can launch Group Policy Editor through Windows Run. Press Windows + R key combination to launch Run box, input “gpedit.msc”, and press Enter or click OK button to trigger Windows 11 Group Policy Editor.

You can also open Windows 11 Group Policy Editor with the help of the command prompt within CMD or PowerShell. Generally, launch either CMD or PowerShell command platform. When it is fully loaded, type either “gpedit” or “gpedit.msc” to enable Windows 11 Group Policy Editor.

Besides, you can access Windows 11 Group Policy Editor making use of the Control Panel. Just open Windows 11 Control Panel, type “edit group policy” in the search bar, and click the Edit group policy option below.

Still, you are able to get Windows 11 Group Policy Editor from Windows Settings. Open Windows 11 Settings, search “edit group policy” in the search column, and click on the drop-down.

Continuously, you can launch Win11 Group Policy Editor from Windows File Explorer. Click the file icon on the taskbar to launch Windows 11 File Explorer, type “gpedit.msc” in the address bar, and open the best-matched result.

Or, you can directly find the file in File Explorer. Its address is C:\Windows\System32\gpedit.msc.

Finally, you can launch the Win 11 Group Policy Editor by creating a desktop shortcut of it. Right-click on the desktop and select New > Shortcut. In the new window, type the location of the item as “gpedit.msc” and click Next and then Finish to complete. Then, you will see a new shortcut named gpedit appear on your desktop. Just double-click on it will open Windows 11 Group Policy Editor.

The new and powerful Windows 11 will bring you many benefits. At the same time, it will also bring you some unexpected damages such as data loss. Thus, it is strongly recommended that you back up your crucial files before or after upgrading to Win11 with a robust and reliable program like MiniTool ShadowMaker, which will assist you to protect your increasing data automatically on schedules!

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Press Win + E to open File Explorer on Windows. Navigate to the following folder: C: > Windows > System32. Locate and double-click the gpedit. msc file to launch the Local Group Policy Editor.

We have already written about how to enable gpedit.msc in Windows 10 Home. In this article, we will walk you through the exact steps needed to install and enable the Group Policy Editor.

As an integral component of Windows Networks, Group Policy controls the working environment of users and computers across the network. Group Policy Objects is a collection of group policy configurations. Two types of Group Policies can be applied to a computer.

It is possible to apply the local Group Policy to standalone computers without the need for an Active Directory server.

The tool that is used to configure Group Policy settings is called Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc). Microsoft provides a Local Group Policy Editor to configure Windows settings on standalone computers.

Now that we are clear about the terminology of group policies, let’s move to the actual topic. The Group Policy Editor can be opened by running the following command in the Run Command box:

This will open the Group Policy Editor (management console). However, when you try to open it in Windows 11 Home edition, you will get the following error message:

Gpedit.msc is located in the “C:\Windows\System32” folder. If you check out the folder in Windows 11 Home, you will find other utilities like gpupdate, gpresults, and gpedit.msc will not be there.

In the next section, we will use a PowerShell script to install and enable gpedit.msc in Windows 11 Home edition.

Please note that although the screenshots provided in this article are of Windows 11 Home edition, the methods given below work fine in other Home editions of Windows like Windows 10, Windows 8, and even Windows 7 Home edition.

We have already shared the GPEnabler script on our Windows 10 post. The same script can be used for Windows 11. But here, we have shared a modified script that does not need to be run as an administrator.

Although a restart is not required, it’s better to restart the system to make sure all the policies you want to enforce are working properly.

Please note that although gpedit.msc has been enabled in Windows 11, not all policies will work smoothly. There will be policies that will have no effect while others will work fine.

Please note that if you have a new Windows 11 Home installation and only Microsoft Edge browser installed, it will make it difficult to download the enabler file. If you are finding it difficult to download the file, you can simply create a new text file and paste the following code into it:

Save the file with the .bat extension and then run the batch file. The process is the same as mentioned above.

Alternatively, you can use the batch file given in the section below.

If you are running Windows 11 Home edition, you can easily enable the group policy editor using the following steps:

These commands will install gpedit.msc console on your computer.

After the commands are successfully executed, type in “gpedit.msc” in the Run Command box. This will open the group policy editor in your Windows Home edition.

If the above methods do not work for you, you can try this method, which lets you download and install the actual Group Policy Editor.

Since the Group Policy Editor is not included in Windows 11 Home by default, we will need to download the editor first. Follow these steps to download the setup files and install the Group Policy editor using the GPEdit installer:

You should now be able to run the Group Policy Editor by typing in “gpedit.msc” in the Run Command box.

If you are getting an “MMC cannot create a snap-in” error message while starting gpedit.msc, you may follow the steps below for the solution:

After following the above-mentioned steps, you should have a working Group Policy Editor in Windows 11 Home edition. In case of any confusion or problem, you are always encouraged to discuss by leaving a comment below.

After installing gpedit.msc using the above-mentioned method, you can easily open the Group Policy Editor by typing in “gpedit.msc” in the Run Command box.

Another way to open the Group Policy Editor is to open PowerShell or Windows Terminal and type gpedit. This should open the editor right away.

Policy Plus is a portable app that adds the functionality of the Local Group Policy Editor to all Windows versions and editions including Windows 11, Windows 10, and even Windows Server editions.

Download Policy Plus from here.

Please note that some antivirus programs and even Google (when using Google Chrome) term this webpage dangerous because of this utility. This utility is very powerful and makes changes to the operating system as intended by its core purpose. So it’s fair enough to download and use it without any issues.

The interface of Policy Plus is very similar to the default local Group Policy Editor. You can choose Computer or user from the drop-down menu on the top left. All other functionality seems to be very similar to the default editor.

Group Policy Editor is an advanced tool. Most of the time, Windows 11 Home users will not need this tool. There is no need to upgrade to Windows 11 Pro for only configuring a handful of group policies.

The above-mentioned methods only work for Local Group Policies. This will not work with Active Directory-based domain group policies. Windows 11 Home still does not support joining a domain. To do that, you need to upgrade to the Pro edition.

What policies do you want to apply on your Windows 11 Home computer? Tell us in the comments below.

Related posts:

You may use the feature called the Gpedit.msc to review, configure, and make changes to Group Policy configurations. However, some users are complaining that they can’t find this important administrative feature on their PC.

The Group Policy Editor (GPE) comes preinstalled on Windows 11. It is used by administrators to implement system-wide policy changes that affect all users on a network at the same time.

Similarly, a regular user might use it in the same way to make countless adjustments and updates to their computer system. However, it is important to note that GPE is only available on Windows 11 Pro.

It is not available on the Home edition like in the earlier versions of Windows. But you can enable the Group Policy Editor on Windows 11 Home Edition if you follow the instructions in this article.

The solution below describes with detailed steps the effective method to enable Gpedit using a batch file on your Windows 11 device.

2. Type or paste in the following batch file code then click File at the top left corner and select the Save as option: @echo off pushd "%~dp0" dir /b %SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientExtensions-Package~3*.mum >List.txt dir /b %SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientTools-Package~3*.mum >>List.txt for /f %%i in ('findstr /i . List.txt 2^>nul') do dism /online /norestart /add-package:"%SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\%%i" pause

3. Next, select the All Files option from the Save as type drop-down menu, enter Group Policy Editor.bat within the File name text box and select Desktop to save the file in there.

4. Thereafter, right-click the Group Policy Editor batch file saved on the Desktop and select Run as administrator.

A Command Prompt window will appear at this point. Wait until it says 100 percent before continuing. Before you close that window, be sure that this operation was accomplished correctly.

FOR %F IN ("%SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientTools-Package~.mum") DO ( DISM /Online /NoRestart /Add-Package:"%F" )

FOR %F IN ("%SystemRoot%\servicing\Packages\Microsoft-Windows-GroupPolicy-ClientExtensions-Package~.mum") DO (DISM /Online /NoRestart /Add-Package:"%F")

Once the processes are complete and reach 100 percent, you can close the Command Prompt window and try to open Gpedit.msc again.

Another way around the Gpedit.msc not found on Windows 11 is to download the .bat file as shown above. This method also works on Windows 11 Home Edition, so be sure to try it.

If you’re using an earlier version of Windows, this could be a contributing factor to the error, which can be fixed by updating the operating system. They should probably fix this error in a subsequent software release.

That’s about it on the Gpedit.msc not found on Windows 11 issue and how to download it.

If you wish to know how to enable and install Gpedit.msc on Windows 10 Home Editions as well, we have already prepared a thorough guide for you to follow in the link attached.

Alternatively, you can learn how to edit the Group Policy in Windows 10 and use the same procedures in Windows 11 as they are similar.

Let us know in the comments section below which solution worked best for you as well as how often you use Group Policy Editor.