How to Back Up and Restore Local Group Policy Editor Settings in Windows 11 and 10

This guide provides detailed instructions on how to backup and restore Local Group Policy Editor settings in Windows 11. It includes instructions on how to back up Local Group Policy manually, as well as how to script and automate the process.

Local Group Policy in Windows 11 is a powerful tool for managing Windows devices (whether it’s customizing your own or providing tech support for others). Being able to readily back up and restore Group Policy settings makes it easier to roll back changes or duplicate a Group Policy to another PC.

Group Policy in Windows

Group Policy is an administrative feature available in supported Windows editions (such as Pro and Enterprise) and Windows Server.It provides tools for the centralized configuration of user and system settings on Windows devices, as well as the ability to configure supported third-party applications. Group Policy is used by system administrators to manage security policies, network configuration, user permissions, and user profiles.

Group Policy settings are organized within Group Policy Objects (GPOs), which contain configuration settings for users and computers. Computer Configuration settings apply to the Windows device and can affect anyone who uses it. User Configuration settings in the standard Local Computer Policy apply to users who sign in to that computer. Windows also supports separate Local GPOs for administrators, non-administrators, and individual local users.

Group Policy can be applied locally on a Windows device or centrally through Active Directory:

• Local Group Policy: The Local group policy applies solely to the single Windows PC they are directly configured on.
• Group Policy in Active Directory: GPOs in Active Directory domain can be linked to sites, domains, or organizational units (OUs) to centrally apply settings to users and computers. Active Directory is designed for managing enterprise networks, and is usually not deployed for home use.

When managing Group Policy in Windows, it’s worth noting that Windows processes applicable GPOs in Local, Site, Domain, and OU order. When two applicable GPOs configure the same setting, the setting processed later normally takes precedence. Inheritance, enforcement, filtering, link order, and loopback processing can affect the final result.

Where are Local Group Policy Editor settings located in Windows 11 and 10?

In both Windows 11 and Windows 10, Local Group Policy Editor settings are stored at the following locations:

• Computer Configuration is stored at %SystemRoot%\System32\GroupPolicy\Machine
• User Configuration is stored at %SystemRoot%\System32\GroupPolicy\User
• Local GPO data for individual local users, administrators, and non-administrators is stored at %SystemRoot%\System32\GroupPolicyUsers

Note that Windows 11 Home does not include the supported Local Group Policy Editor. Some registry-based policy settings may still affect Windows Home, but their availability and behavior vary by setting and edition. This guide applies to Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, and Education.

How to back up Local Group Policy Editor settings

To back up Local Group Policy in Windows 11 and 10, follow these steps:

• Make sure you have enabled “show hidden files and folders” in Windows Explorer. On Windows 10, you can select the Hidden items box from the View tab.
• Right-click on Start and click Run.
• In the Run dialog, copy and paste the path to the local Group Policy Objects you wish to back up (Computer Configuration, User Configuration, or Local GPOs for individual users, administrators, or non-administrator.
• Select all the files and folders in the directory by pressing Ctrl+A.
• Right-click and copy the contents of the folder, into a new folder on an external USB or network drive, or to cloud storage.

Restoring Local Group Policy Editor settings

To restore Group Policy settings in Windows 11:

• Make sure that you have enabled show hidden files and folders in Windows Explorer.
• Right-click on the Start button and click Run.
• In the Run dialog, copy and paste the path to the local Group Policy Objects you wish to restore to (Computer Configuration, User Configuration, or Local GPOs for individual users, administrators, or non-administrators.
• In a separate Explorer window, navigate to the folder you originally copied your backups to.
• Select all the files and folders in the directory by pressing Ctrl A.
• Right-click and copy the contents of the folder and paste them into the folder path from which they were originally backed up.
• Open the command prompt or PowerShell and run gpupdate /force.

Once you have restored your Group Policy Settings, you should verify that they have taken effect.

Use cases for backing up and restoring Group Policy settings

There are several common use cases for backing up Local Group Policy Editor settings on Windows:

• Migrating to a new PC (or deploying the same policies to multiple PCs): Rather than manually re-creating each policy setting, you can export the Local Group Policy from one PC and import it on a compatible PC. Test the imported policy first, especially if it references local users, Windows features, applications, or version-specific settings.
• Troubleshooting or rolling back after a failed change: If you make major changes to your Local Group Policy settings that don’t work as intended, you can restore backed-up policy settings to return the covered configurations to their previous state, rather than having to find and manually undo each individual policy change.
• System repair and maintenance: Restoring a Local Group Policy backup can help recover policy settings that were unintentionally changed, reducing the need to manually reconfigure individual policy settings.

Automate the Group Policy Backup Process with LGPO

LGPO is a Local Group Policy backup tool provided by Microsoft. It is a command-line utility, so it’s perfect for automating the backup and restoration process. LGPO can be downloaded as part of the Microsoft Security Compliance Toolkit here.

Once you’ve downloaded and extracted LGPO, copy and paste the file LGPO.exe to the path C:\Windows\System32,this will make the application available as a global command on your system, so it can be run from anywhere.

Now that LGPO is installed, you can use it to create a backup by running the following command in the command prompt or PowerShell:

LGPO.exe /b “PATH_TO_BACKUP_DIRECTORY”

Be sure to replace PATH_TO_BACKUP_DIRECTORY with the location of the folder you wish to store your backups in (for example, D:\my_group_policy_backups). Note that within the backup directory, the actual backup files will be in a folder with a unique ID (a random-looking string of characters and dashes). You’ll need to be aware of this when restoring the backup.

As this method uses the command line, it can be automated using PowerShell and scheduled using the Windows Task Scheduler.

To restore your Local Group Policy Editor backups, run:

LGPO.exe /g “PATH_TO_BACKUP_DIRECTORY/UNIQUE_ID”

Note that you’ll need to provide the full path to the backup directory, including the uniquely named directory created for that specific backup.

Best practices and troubleshooting

There are a few further things you should keep in mind when importing and exporting Group Policy Editor settings in Windows.

If you regularly change your Local Group Policy settings, you should automate and schedule the backup process so you always have an up-to-date backup stored on a separate device or in the cloud. To export and import selected registry-based policy settings, use LGPO’s text format instead of copying individual directories. LGPO can parse a Registry.pol file into readable text, which you can review and edit before applying the required settings.

Importantly, use caution when restoring Local Group Policy settings to a different Windows version or configuration, as some settings may not be supported or may behave differently. Corrupted policy files can also cause unexpected results. If the system does not behave as expected after a restore, review or revert the affected policy settings and verify that they are compatible with the target system.

Safeguard your system policies now. Watch How to back up and restore Local Group Policy Editor settings.

Managing Windows Group Policy in an enterprise environment

Using Local Group Policy to manage more than a few Windows devices is cumbersome. This is why system administrators for even small businesses may deploy Windows domains, using Group Policy in Active Directory, to centrally manage user and device configurations. Backing up and restoring domain Group Policy can then be managed centrally, rather than per-device.

Windows domains with Active Directory are the industry standard for centrally managing users and configuring Windows devices. Active Directory provide s identity and access management capabilities to manage access to organizational resources. Furthermore, you can improve the security and resiliency of your enterprise networks by implementing remote monitoring and management. For organizations that also deploy Apple and Android devices (in addition to their Windows PCs), a cross-platform management solution can provide centralized monitoring and management across these devices.

NinjaOne is a powerful endpoint management solution with a unified interface for deploying and maintaining Windows 11 devices. It integrates with endpoint protection and helps you oversee group policies for hundreds or thousands of users, as well as centrally manage the backup process for your servers, workstations, and mobile devices.

Want to learn more? Check out the NinjaOne Endpoint Management FAQ for answers to common questions and best practices for managing your device environment at scale.