By default, Windows 10 automatically mounts a removable drive like USB Flash drive you have connected to the computer. If the OS is able to recognize its file system, it will assign a drive letter to the drive. It is possible to change this behavior and prevent the OS from recognizing newly connected removable drives automatically.
The change will affect new drives only. Devices you have already connected to the computer earlier will continue to function until you disconnect them. After that, they will no longer be recognized by the OS.
This restriction can be activated with either a Group Policy option or a Registry tweak. The Local Group Policy Editor is available in Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions. All editions can use the Registry tweak method.
You must be signed in with an administrative account to continue.
To disable Installation of Removable Devices in Windows 10, do the following.
- Download the following ZIP archive: Download ZIP archive.
- Extract its contents to any folder. You can place the files directly to the Desktop.
- Unblock the files.
- Double click on the Disable_installation_of_removable_devices.reg
file to merge it.
- To apply the changes you made, restart Windows 10.
You are done!
To undo the change, use the provided file Enable_installation_of_removable_devices.reg. Don't forget to restart the OS after merging it.
How it works
The Registry files above modify the Registry branch
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceInstall\Restrictions
Tip: See how to go to a Registry key with one click.
To disable installation of removable drives, create a new 32-bit DWORD value DenyRemovableDevices under the mentioned path and set its value data to 1. Note: Even if you are running 64-bit Windows you must still create a 32-bit DWORD value.
Supported values:
DenyRemovableDevices = 1 - disable installation of removable drives.
DenyRemovableDevices = 0 - installation of removable drives is enabled.
If you are running Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, or Education edition, you can use the Local Group Policy Editor app to configure the options mentioned above with a GUI.
Disable Installation of Removable Devices using gpedit.msc
- Press Win + R keys together on your keyboard and type:
gpedit.msc
Press Enter.
- Group Policy Editor will open. Go to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Device Installation\Device Installation Restrictions. Enable the policy option Prevent installation of removable devices as shown below.
- Restart the computer.
That's it.
See the following articles:
- Disable Automount of New Drives in Windows 10
- How To Set Custom Icon For Removable Drive in Windows 10
- Enable Removable Drive Write Protection in Windows 10
- Hide Removable Drives From Navigation Pane in Windows 10
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If one does this, and I think I will, what is the procedure to mount a USB device upon insertion?
The idea behind this policy is to prevent the user from using removable devices.
It’s great for company, business, corporate and/or other work computer
Exactly
What’s the advantage of dong this? Does it make data transfer via USB faster?
It pretty much prohibit users from using their own USB drives as a security reason. For a corporate PC, this would make total sense.