How to Open the Local Group Policy Editor in Windows 10 and Windows 11 IT professionals can use the Local Group Policy Editor in Windows to manage Windows devices and push out configurations. In this video, you'll learn five quick methods to open the Local Group Policy Editor. Before we begin, be sure to subscribe to NinjaOne’s IT Video Hub for more tech content like this. What are Group Policies in Windows? Group Policy is a tool that IT professionals can leverage to administer Windows devices, including user and system settings, and third-party application configuration. They can use it to control settings like browser configurations, including home pages and security settings, or limit user access to only authorized applications on their device. A Group Policy can be either of the following: Local Group Policy, applied only to the specific device it is configured on, or Group Policy in Active Directory used to centrally manage multiple devices across an enterprise environment. The Local Group Policy Editor is native software for managing local group policies in Windows 11 and Windows 10. However, it's only available on the Pro, Enterprise, and Education versions of Windows. How to Open the Local Group Policy Editor in Windows via the Run Dialog First, press the “Windows Key” plus the “R” key. Next, type “gpedit.msc” and hit Enter to open the Local Group Policy Editor. How to Open the Local Group Policy Editor in Windows via the Start Menu Press the Start button or the “Windows Key.” Click on the search box and type in “Edit group policy”. Click the result under the Control Panel to open the Local Group Policy Editor. How to Open the Local Group Policy Editor in Windows via Windows Settings To go to the Settings app, right-click the Start button and select “Settings.” Next, type “Edit group policy” into the search bar on the left-hand side. Click on the “Edit group policy” result to open the Local Group Policy Editor. How to Open the Local Group Policy Editor in Windows via Classic Control Panel Open the Control Panel by typing it into the Start Menu search. Navigate to “Windows Tools” and search for “Edit group policy”. Select the “Edit group policy” result under Windows tools to access the Local Group Policy Editor. How to Open the Local Group Policy Editor in Windows via Command Prompt The final method of opening the Local Group Policy Editor is to use either the Windows Command Prompt or PowerShell. You just need to enter “gpedit.msc” into either command-line tool. Managing Windows Group Policy in large-scale deployments Now that you know five quick and efficient methods to open the Local Group Policy Editor, you can use Local Group Policies to manage devices and configure specific settings. For more information, check out our official blog post on how to open the Local Group Policy Editor in Windows 10 and Windows 11 linked in the description below.