This wikiHow article teaches you how to enable access to the Registry Editor on a Windows computer. Whether your Registry Editor has been disabled by an administrator on your school network or a virus is preventing you from opening it, there are a few ways you can bring the Registry Editor back online.
Things You Should Know
- If you are the administrator, try disabling third-party antivirus apps and running an antivirus scan with Defender.
- You can also try running regedit from the Run dialog, or by reenabling Registry Editor in the Group Policy Editor.
- If you're not an administrator, you may be able to enable regedit using a Visual Basic script.
Steps
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Type run into Start. This will search your computer for the "Run" app.Advertisement
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Click Run . It's at the top of the Start window. Run will open.
- If you're on a computer where Run is disabled, you won't be able to open Run.
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Type regedit into Run. This is the command to open the Registry Editor.
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Click OK . Doing so will run the Registry Editor open command. If the Registry Editor prompts you for permission and then opens when you click Yes , your problem is fixed.
- If the Registry Editor doesn't open, you'll need to try another method in this article.
- If you receive a pop-up window that says "Registry editing has been disabled by your administrator", you'll need to edit your Group Policy settings . This will only work if you control the Group Policy Editor on your network.
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Disable any third-party antivirus programs. If your Registry Editor isn't working and you are the administrator, your PC may be infected with a virus or malware. However, it's also possible that third-party antivirus programs (e.g., McAfee, Norton, Kaspersky) can be blocking access to regedit. Because of this, disable all antivirus protection that isn't Windows Defender before continuing.
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2Open Windows Security. Press the Windows key on your keyboard, type security , then click Windows Security .
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Click the shield icon. This icon is in the upper-left corner of the Windows Defender page.
- When expanded, this option is called Virus & threat protection .
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Click Advanced scan . It's a link below the Quick scan button in the middle of the page.
- On some versions of Windows Defender, click the Home tab instead as there is no Advanced Scan section.
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Make sure "Full scan" is checked. Click the circle to the left of "Full scan" at the top of the page if it isn't already filled in.
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Click Scan now . It's in the middle of the page. Windows Defender will start scanning your computer for malicious software that might be preventing Registry access.
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Wait for the scan to complete. If anything malicious turns up during the scan, Windows Defender will alert you and give you the option of removing the dangerous items.
- If this scan doesn't find anything, repeat the scan with "Windows Defender Offline scan" checked instead of "Full scan" checked.
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Try to open Registry Editor. Once the scan completes, open Start , type in regedit , and press ↵ Enter . If the Registry Editor still doesn't open, you'll need to try a different method.
- You may need to restart your computer before you can access Registry Editor after the scan.
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Type command prompt into Start. This will bring up the Command Prompt icon in the Start menu.
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Click Run as administrator . It's an option in the drop-down menu.
- If you aren't an administrator on this computer, you won't be able to complete this method.
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Click Yes when prompted. Doing so will open Command Prompt in Administrator mode.
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Enter the Registry refresh command. Type reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System" /t Reg_dword /v DisableRegistryTools /f /d 0 into Command Prompt, then press ↵ Enter .
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Close Command Prompt. Your command should have re-enabled the Registry Editor.
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Try to open Registry Editor. Open Start , type in regedit , and press ↵ Enter . If the Registry Editor doesn't open, proceed to the next step.
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Restart your computer. Open Start , click the Power icon , and click Restart . Once your computer finishes restarting, you can try opening Registry Editor again.
- If Registry Editor still won't open, you may be able to use a script to force it to open.
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Type group policy editor into Start. This will search your computer for the Group Policy Editor program.
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Click the Group Policy Editor icon. It's at the top of the Start menu. Group Policy Editor will open.
- On some versions of Windows it may read Edit group policy instead.
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Double-click User Configuration . Doing so will expand this item to display the folders below it.
- Skip this step if User Configuration is already expanded.
- If you don't see this option, first double-click the Local Computer Policy item at the top of the sidebar.
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Click Administrative Templates . This folder is near the bottom of the User Configuration list of folders.
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Double-click the System folder. It's on the right side of the Group Policy Editor window.
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Double-click Prevent access to registry editing tools . You'll find this item on the right side of the window.
- You may have to scroll down to find it.
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Check the "Not Configured" box. It's in the upper-left side of the pop-up window.
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Click Apply , then click OK . These are both at the bottom of the window. Doing so should re-enable Registry Editor on your computer.
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Try to open Registry Editor. Open Start , type in regedit , and press ↵ Enter . If Registry Editor opens, you have successfully bypassed the Group Policy Editor restrictions.
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Open a new Notepad document. Open Start , type notepad in, and click the blue Notepad app. This will open a new Notepad document.
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Copy the following code into the Notepad document:
Option Explicit
Dim WSHShell, n, MyBox, p, t, mustboot, errnum, vers
Dim enab, disab, jobfunc, itemtype
Set WSHShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
p = "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\"
p = p & "DisableRegistryTools"
itemtype = "REG_DWORD"
mustboot = "Log off and back on, or restart your pc to" & vbCR & "effect the changes"
enab = "ENABLED"
disab = "DISABLED"
jobfunc = "Registry Editing Tools are now "
t = "Confirmation"
Err.Clear
On Error Resume Next
n = WSHShell.RegRead (p)
On Error Goto 0
errnum = Err.Number
if errnum <> 0 then
WSHShell.RegWrite p, 0, itemtype
End If
If n = 0 Then
n = 1
WSHShell.RegWrite p, n, itemtype
Mybox = MsgBox(jobfunc & disab & vbCR & mustboot, 4096, t)
ElseIf n = 1 then
n = 0
WSHShell.RegWrite p, n, itemtype
Mybox = MsgBox(jobfunc & enab & vbCR & mustboot, 4096, t)
End If -
Click File . It's in the top-left side of the Notepad window.
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Click Save As… . This option is near the top of the File drop-down menu.
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Select a save location. Click the Desktop folder on the left side of the Save As window.
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Enter
Registry Editor.vbs
as the file name. Do this in the "File name:" field. -
Select a file type. Click the drop-down box next to "Save as type:", then click All Files . This will save your document in the correct file format.
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Click Save . It's in the bottom-right corner of the Save As window. This will create your file.
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Close Notepad. Click the X in the top-right corner of Notepad to do so.
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Double-click the VBS file. Doing so will prompt the script to run.
- This script will switch the registry editor's disabled/enabled setting. Do not run it a second time, or the registry editor will be disabled again.
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Try to open Registry Editor. Open Start , type in regedit , and press ↵ Enter . If the Registry Editor still won't open, you may need to take your computer into a tech department to have a professional look at it.
Community Q&A
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QuestionHow do I enable task manager?Reyhan PalakkaCommunity AnswerPress Ctrl+Shift+Esc in the same time.
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QuestionBoth regedit and cmd are disabled, what can I do?Community AnswerIt may be because you do not have administration privileges. Ask your system administrator if it is a work computer, or log into the main account if it's a home PC.
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QuestionI changed my install location through regedit from c drive to e drive. After restarting regedit, task manger is not opening, there are some extra downloaded files, and it is showing invalid path. What can I do?Community AnswerThere will be a lot of mis-entries in the registry due to the different applications you have used. Use a registry repair app and restore the registry file.
Video
Tips
- Most school and work computers will not let you use the Registry Editor as a matter of policy.Thanks
Warnings
- Never edit the registry unless you know exactly what you are doing. A mistake could make your operating system unusable.Thanks
About This Article
1. Open the Windows search bar.
2. Type Run
.
3. Click Run
.
4. Type Regedit
.
5. Click OK
.