Windows tries to run plugged-in drives automatically. If you don’t like that behavior, follow these steps to disable autorun and autoplay in Windows.
Though most don’t know, Windows has a neat built-in feature called autoplay, also known as Autorun. It helps you launch programs, files, and drives as soon as you plug them in.
However, autorun popups can be a bit annoying. This is especially true if you plug in a lot of removable drives, like in professional environments. In addition to that, many computer viruses and malware take advantage of the autoplay feature to automatically execute and infect the system.
The good thing is that you can easily disable AutoPlay in Windows 10 and 11. In fact, there are multiple ways to turn off autoplay in Windows.
So, without further ado, let me show you how to disable autoplay in Windows 10 & 11 operating systems.
Table of contents:
Disable autorun from Settings
The PC Settings app in Windows 10 and 11 give you an excellent option to disable autorun. The settings app even allows you to set autorun on a per-device basis. For example, if you often connect your mobile phone to Windows, you can set a specific autorun behavior while disabling all the other USB autoruns.
Windows 11
- Open the Settings app.
- Click on “Bluetooth & devices.”
- Go to the “AutoPlay” page.
- Turn off the “Use AutoPlay for all media and devices” option.
- Close the Settings app.
- With that, AutoPlay and Autorun is disabled in Windows 11.
Windows 10
- Open the Settings app.
- Click on “Devices.”
- Go to the “AutoPlay” page.
- Turn off the “Use AutoPlay for all media and devices” option.
- Choose “Take No Action” from all dropdowns.
- Close the Settings app.
- With that, AutoPlay and Autorun is disabled in Windows 10.
Steps with more details:
Open the PC Settings app by pressing the keyboard shortcut Win + I or searching for it in the start menu.
After opening it, go to “Devices > AutoPlay.” On the right panel, toggle the switch under “Use AutoPlay for all media and devices” to the “Off” position.
Next, select the “Take No Action” option from all the dropdown menus.
That is it. You’ve disabled autoplay in Windows 10.
Change Group Policy to disable autorun
If you want to disable autoplay permanently and don’t want users to turn it on again, you can disable autorun from the Group Policy Editor.
Group policy is only available to Pro and Enterprise version users.
- Launch the Start menu.
- Search and open “Edit Group Policy.”
- Go to the below folder.
Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> AutoPlay Policies - Double-click the “Turn off AutoPlay” policy.
- Choose the “Enabled” option.
- Press “Ok.”
- Close the Group Policy Editor.
- Reboot Windows.
- With that, AutoPlay is disabled in Windows 10 and 11.
Steps with more details:
Search for “gpedit.msc” or “Edit Group Policy” in the Start menu and open Group Policy Editor. Alternatively, you can also use gpedit.msc run command.
All the policies in the group policy editor are neatly divided into their own folders for better accessibility. On the left panel, go to the following folder.
Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> AutoPlay Policies
Find and double-click on the “Turn off AutoPlay” policy on the right panel.
In the policy settings window, select “Enabled” and click the “Apply” and “Ok” buttons to save the changes.
Finally, reboot Windows, and the policy changes are applied on the next reboot. With that, the autorun is completely disabled in Windows 10.
Disable autorun from Registry
If you are using the Home edition, you need to edit Registry to disable autoplay in Windows 10 and 11. The good thing is that it is pretty straightforward.
Back up the registry before making changes. The backup helps in restoring the registry if something goes wrong.
- Press the Start key.
- Search and open “Registry Editor.”
- Go to the following folder.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies - Right-click on the “Policies” folder.
- Select “New > DWORD Value.”
- Set the new name as “NoDriveTypeAutorun.”
- Double-click the new value.
- Type “FF” in the “Value Data” field.
- Press “Ok.”
- Close the Registry Editor.
- Reboot Windows.
- With that, Autorun is disabled in Windows 10 & 11.
Steps with more details:
Open the start menu, search for “Registry Editor,” and open it. You can also use the regedit run command to open Windows Registry Editor.
Once the registry editor is opened, copy the below path, paste it into the address bar, and press Enter. You will be taken to the folder where we need to create a new registry value.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies
Right-click on the “Policies” folder and select the “New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value” option. Name the value as “NoDriveTypeAutorun”.
Double-click the newly created value, type “FF” in the value data field, and click on the “Ok” button.
Close the registry editor and reboot Windows. Once you reboot, the autoplay is disabled, and no drives or devices will autorun in Windows 10 and 11.
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That is all. It is that simple to disable autorun in Windows 10.
I hope this simple and easy Windows how-to guide helped you.
If you are stuck or need some help, send an email, and I will try to help as much as possible.
