How to Disable Task Manager in Windows 10

How to Enable or Disable Task Manager in Windows 10

Windows 8 and Windows 10 have a new Task Manager app. It looks completely different compared to Windows 7's Task Manager and has different features. System administrators may restrict users from using the Task Manager, by using either Group Policy, or a Registry tweak.

Task Manager in Windows 10 comes with neat features. It can analyze the performance of various hardware components and also shows you all the processes running in your user session, grouped by app or process type.

Windows 10's Task Manager includes a performance graph and startup impact calculation. It is able to control which apps launch during startup. There is a special tab "Startup" which is designed to manage startup apps.

Tip: You can save your time by creating a special shortcut to open the Task Manager directly on the Startup tab.

Also, it is possible to make Task Manager show the command line of apps on the Processes, Details and Startup tabs. When enabled, it will allow you to quickly see which folder an app is launched from, and what its command line arguments are. For reference, see the article

Show Command Line in Windows 10 Task Manager

In addition to these great features, Task Manager is able to show DPI awareness for processes.

Starting in Windows 10 build 18963, you can use the Task Manager app to monitor the  temperature of the discrete graphic adapter on PCs and Laptops.

If you need to apply a restriction and prevent users from accessing the Task Manager app, Windows 10 offers you at least two methods, a Group Policy option, and a Group Policy Registry tweak. The first method can be used in editions of Windows 10 that come with the Local Group Policy Editor app. If you are running Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, or Education edition, then the Local Group Policy Editor app is available in the OS out of the box. Windows 10 Home users can apply a Registry tweak. Let's review these methods.

To Disable Task Manager in Windows 10,

1. Open the Local Group Policy editor app, or launch it for all users except Administrator, or for a specif user.
2. Navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Ctrl+Alt+Del Options on the left.
3. On the right, find the policy setting Remove Task Manager.
4. Double-click on it and set the policy to Enabled to disable the Task Manager.

You are done. If someone try to access the Task Manager, the appropriate entries will be disabled, including

• The option in the Ctrl+Alt+Del security screen.
• The option in the taskbar context menu.
• The Ctrl+Shit+Esc shortcut.

To re-enable the Task Manager, set the mentioned policy to Not configured. This is its default value.

Tip: See How to Reset All Local Group Policy Settings at once in Windows 10.

Now, let's see how the same can be done with a Registry tweak.

Enable or Disable Task Manager in Windows 10 With a Registry Tweak

1. Open Registry Editor.
2. Go to the following Registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
. Tip: See how to jump to the desired Registry key with one click. If you do not have such a key, then just create it.
3. Here, create a new 32-bit DWORD value DisableTaskMgr. Note: Even if you are running 64-bit Windows, you still need to use a 32-bit DWORD as the value type.
4. Set it to 1 to disable the Task Manager.
5. Remove or set it to 0 to re-enable the app.
6. To make the changes done by the Registry tweak take effect, you need to sign out and sign in again to your user account.

You are done!

Tip: You can try to enable GpEdit.msc in Windows 10 Home.

Here are ready-to-use Registry files you can download to save your time:

Download Registry Files

The undo tweak is included.

Articles of interest:

• How To See Applied Group Policies in Windows 10
• All Ways To Open Local Group Policy Editor 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
• Enable Gpedit.msc (Group Policy) in Windows 10 Home