Local Group Policy is a special administrative tool which comes with certain editions of Windows 10. It is implemented as a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in, which provides a graphical user interface for various tweaks (policies) available in the operating system. In this article, we will see how to force update all Group Policy settings manually in Windows 10.
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Group Policy is a way to configure computer and user settings for devices which are joined to Active Directory Domain Services (AD) as well as local user accounts. It controls a wide range of options and can be used to enforce settings and change the defaults for applicable users. Local Group Policy is a basic version of Group Policy for computers not included in a domain. The Local Group Policy settings are stored in the following folders:
C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy
C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicyUsers.
If you are running Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, or Education edition, you can use the Local Group Policy Editor app to configure the options with a GUI.
Local Group Policy editor can be launched by typing gpedit.msc in the Run dialog.
By default, Group Policy is updated when the system starts. Additionally, Group Policy options are updated in the background every 90 minutes + a random offset of the 0 to 30 minute interval.
It is possible to apply the changes immediately without waiting for the automatic policy update process. This can be done manually with the help of the built-in tool gpupdate. It can also be useful when you need to apply certain group policies configured with a Registry tweak without having to restart the local computer. Here is how it can be done.
Note: You must be signed in with an administrative account to continue.
To Force Update Group Policy Settings in Windows 10 Manually
- Open an elevated command prompt.
- To force apply only the changed policies, type or copy-paste the following command:
gpupdate - To force update all policies, run the command:
gpupdate /force
The commands above will update both User Group Policies and Computer Group Policies simultaneously.
Also, it is possible to force update Computer group policies or User Group policies individually. Here's how.
Force Update Computer or User Group Policies Individually
- Open an elevated command prompt.
- To force update only the changed Computer policies, issue the command
gpupdate /target:computer. - To force update all Computer policies, issue the command
gpupdate /target:computer /force. - To force update only the changed User policies, issue the command
gpupdate /target:user. - To force update all User policies, issue the command
gpupdate /target:user /force.
You can learn more about supported gpupdate options by running the app as gpupdate /? in the command prompt.
That's it.
Related articles.
- How To See Applied Group Policies in Windows 10
- See Applied Windows Update Group Policies in Windows 10
- Apply Group Policy to All Users Except Administrator in Windows 10
- Apply Group Policy to a Specific User in Windows 10
- Reset All Local Group Policy Settings at once in Windows 10
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You don’t need administrator privileges to update Group Policy (ie gpupdate command).