How to Disable Proxy Settings in Windows 10 Permanently

Need to stop users from changing proxy settings? Here is a simple way to disable proxy settings permanently in Windows 10.

Windows has a built-in Proxy that gives administrators granular control over a network. You can think of proxy as a middle-man that sits between you and the internet. When the proxy is enabled, all the requests are first sent to the proxy which then forwards them as needed on your behalf. Since all your requests are routed via a proxy, the network administrator who manages the proxy can monitor and control all the network activity going through that proxy. On Windows 10, you can find the proxy configuration in the Settings app’s “Network & Internet → Proxy” page.

In the real-world, the proxy settings are hugely helpful to protect your network and even speed up in some cases. In fact, most office and educational environments require you to use specific proxy settings to make sure the communication is secure and safe.

Though the proxy feature is useful in many ways, if you are not using it or don’t want other users to maliciously change the proxy settings, you can disable it permanently.

So, if you ever need it, here are the ways to disable proxy settings on Windows 10 with Group Policy Editor and Registry Editor.

Steps to disable proxy settings

You can disable the Windows 10 proxy settings using the Group Policy Editor. Using Group Policy is the safest and easiest way. So, follow the steps as shown below and the Windows 10 proxy settings will be disabled in no time.

1. Open the Start menu. On Windows, you can do that by pressing the Windows logo key on your keyboard. Alternatively, click on the Start icon on the taskbar.

2. Search for “Edit Group Policy” in the Start menu and click on the result. As soon as you click on the Edit Group Policy option, Windows Group Policy Editor will be opened.

3. Go to the “User Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → Internet Explorer” folder in the policy editor. The folder hosts most common network and internet options.

4. Find and double-click on the “Prevent changing proxy settings” policy. You can find the policy on the right page. Make sure you select the Internet Explorer folder on the left panel to find the policy.

5. Select the radio option “Enabled” to enable the policy. Once enabled, it will block users from making any changes to the proxy settings.

6. Click on the “Apply” and “Ok” buttons one after the other. Doing this will save the changes you just made. i.e., enable the policy.

7. Finally, close the group policy editor and restart Windows 10. This will apply the changes system-wide.

After restarting, users can no longer make any changes to the proxy settings. If you go to the proxy settings page in the Settings app, you will see the “Some of these settings are hidden or managed by your organization” message with all options blocked off.

If you want to change the proxy settings, you have to first disable the policy. Since only administrators can make changes to the group policy editor, you don’t have to worry about others messing with changes, as long as they don’t have the admin rights.

Use registry editor to disable proxy settings

If you are unable to use the Group Policy Editor, you can do the same changes using the Registry Editor. Here’s how.

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Search and open “Registry Editor”.
3. Copy “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft”.
4. Paste it in the registry address bar and press Enter.
5. Right-click on the “Microsoft” folder.
6. Select “Key” from the “New” menu.
7. Type “Internet Explorer” as its new name.
8. Right-click on the “Internet Explorer” folder.
9. Select “Key” from the “New” menu.
10. Type “Control Panel” as its new name.
11. Right-click on the “Control Panel” folder.
12. Select “DWORD Value” from the “New” menu.
13. Type “Proxy” as its name.
14. Right-click on the “Proxy” value.
15. Select “Modify”.
16. Type “1” in the Value Data field.
17. Click “Ok”.
18. Close the registry editor.
19. Reboot Windows 10.

That is it. With the above steps, you can easily disable the proxy settings in Windows 10. If you are stuck or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible.

If you are facing proxy issues in the Chrome browser, check out how to fix the downloading proxy script problem in Chrome.