How to add Group Policy and Local Security Policy to Windows 11 and 10 Home edition

If you like to tweak various hidden settings of Windows 10, you've undoubtedly encountered many methods that mentioned the use of Group Policy editor  (GPEdit.msc) or Local Security Policy editor  (secpol.msc). However, such tools are only available for the Windows 10 Pro users and if your edition is Windows 10 Home you are out of luck: if you tried to use nay of these tools, you have probably encountered an error message saying they were unavailable. If this situation was frustrating to you, you would be glad to know that both Group Policy and Local Security Policy editors are actually available in Windows 10 Home, they are just not configured for use. (Those Microsoft marketing people can sure find sneaky ways to nudge you toward upgrading to the Pro edition of Windows, don't they?)

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In any case, this article is intended to show how to create a simple batch file (using Windows Notepad) that would perform the necessary configuration to enable Group Policy and Local Security Policy editors for use in Windows 10 Home edition.

Before you continue, though, a word of CAUTION: the instructions below worked for us in out test lab at the time they were being prepared, but they MAY NOT WORK for your specific computer configuration. THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS-IS" WITHOUT A WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. BY CHOOSING TO USE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION, YOU ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK OF SELECTION, APPLICATION, AND USE OF THE INFORMATION. INDEPENDENT OF THE FORGOING PROVISIONS, IN NO EVENT AND UNDER NO LEGAL THEORY, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, TORT, CONTRACT, OR STRICT PRODUCTS LIABILITY, SHALL WINABILITY SOFTWARE CORPORATION OR ANY OF ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER MALFUNCTION, OR ANY OTHER KIND OF COMMERCIAL DAMAGE, EVEN IF WINABILITY SOFTWARE CORPORATION HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THIS LIMITATION SHALL NOT APPLY TO LIABILITY FOR DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW. IN NO EVENT SHALL WINABILITY SOFTWARE CORPORATION'S LIABILITY FOR ACTUAL DAMAGES FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER, AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF THE PURCHASE PRICE PAID FOR THE SOFTWARE LICENSE OR ONE UNITED STATES DOLLAR, WHICHEVER IS THE GREATER.

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO FULLY ACCEPT THE RISK OF USING THIS INFORMATION, STOP HERE. If you do agree, BACKUP YOUR ENTIRE WINDOWS SYSTEM INSTALLATION before continuing.

Let's create a simple batch file that would perform the tasks needed. With File Explorer, navigate to the folder where you want to store the batch file. It could be almost any folder, for example the Downloads folder should work just fine. Now select all text in the box below (by clicking it with the mouse and pressing Ctrl+A), then press Ctrl+C to copy the text.

Now use Windows Start menu to run Notepad and press Ctrl+V to paste the text you've just copied into an empty Notepad window. Finally, use File - Save As on the Notepad menu to save the file to the Downloads folder. Give the file an appropriate name, such as Install-GPEdit.bat (make sure that the name ends in .bat) and, before pressing the Save button, make sure to select All files in the Save as type list:

Now back to File Explorer, right-click on the file you've just saved and choose Run as Administrator. You should be prompted to enter any key to continue, or you can press Ctrl and C at the same time to abort the procedure if you've changed your mind. If you do want it to proceed, press any key (the Enter key should work just fine), and after a few seconds the Group Policy and Local Security Policy editors should be installed and available for use with your Windows 10 Home computer:

To verify the success, press the WIN+R keys and enter gpedit.msc as the command to run. If it opens the Group Policy editor window, it worked. Now try the same WIN+R keys but this time enter secpol.msc as the command. Congratulations, you can now tweak your Windows settings and policies just like Windows 10 Professional users do!

Happy settings tweaking!

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