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How to Disable Task Manager on Windows 10

Want to block users from opening the Task Manager? This article shows you how to disable the Task Manager in Windows 10 and 11.

Task Manager is one of the most useful applications in Windows. As most of you know, the Task Manager gives you a wealth of information about the system, running processes, startup applications, and more. One of the most common use cases for Task Manager is closing unresponsive applications and managing startup applications.

As useful as it is, in some cases, such as in professional and office settings, you may want to disable Task Manager so that no one can use it. If this is the case, follow these instructions to disable Task Manager in Windows.

Note: Only disable the Task Manager when it is necessary and if you know what you are doing. Blocking or disabling Task Manager might be inconvenient for you and other system users. This is especially true in educational settings, where students are sometimes forced to exit apps such as dev tools using the Task Manager.

Table of contents:

The steps below work the same in Windows 10 and 11.

Disable Task Manager from Group Policy Editor

You can block or disable Task Manager using the GPO policy. If you are using the Pro or Enterprise version, follow this method.

  1. Press “Win + R” to open Run.
  2. Type “gpedit.msc” in the blank field.
  3. Press the “Ok” button.
  4. Go to the following folder. User Configuration/Administrative Templates/System/Ctrl + Alt + Del Options
  5. Double-click the “Remove Task Manager” policy.
  6. Choose the “Enabled” radio option.
  7. Press the “Ok” button.
  8. Close the Group Policy Editor.
  9. Reboot Windows.
  10. With that, the Task Manager is disabled.

Steps with more details:

First, open the Group Policy Editor. For that, search for “Edit Group Policy” in the Start menu or press “Win + R,” type “gpedit.msc” in the blank field, and press “OK.”

Disable task manager - open group policy

Once the group policy editor has been opened, you can see different folders on the left panel. Go to the “User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Ctrl + Alt + Del Options” folder.

Find and double-click the “Remove Task Manager” policy in that folder.

open Remove Task Manager policy

It opens the policy properties window. Select the “Enabled” option and click the “Apply” and “Ok” buttons to save changes.

Select Enabled to disable task manager

Reboot Windows to apply the changes.

That’s it. After restarting, the Task Manager is disabled at the system level. If you try to open it, you see the “Task Manager has been disabled by your administrator” error message.

task manager disabled error message

To fix the error and enable the Task Manager, open the “Remove Task Manager” policy and select the “Not Configured” option.

Disable Task Manager from Registry

If you are running the Home edition, you can use the Registry Editor to disable the Task Manager. If you are wondering, Home edition users don’t have access to the Group Policy Editor. Let me show you how.

Back up the registry before making changes. The backup helps in restoring the registry if something goes wrong.

  1. Press the “Start” key on the taskbar.
  2. Search and open “Registry Editor.”
  3. Go to the below folder. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
  4. Right-click the “System” folder.
  5. Select “New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.”
  6. Type “DisableTaskMgr” as the name.
  7. Double-click the new value.
  8. Type “1” in the Value Data field.
  9. Press the “Ok” button.
  10. Close the Registry Editor.
  11. Reboot Windows.
  12. With that, the Task Manager is disabled.

Steps with more details:

Search for “Registry Editor” in the Start menu and open it. After opening it, paste the below path in the address bar to go to the “System” folder.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

go to system registry folder

Right-click the “System” folder on the left panel and choose the “New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value” option.

select DWORD value option

Use “DisableTaskMgr” as the name for the new value.

double-click the value

Double-click the “DisableTaskMgr” value. Type “1” in the Value Data field and press the “Ok” button.

type 1 in the value data field

Reboot the computer to apply the changes.

After restarting, the registry value disables the Task Manager completely. If you try to open it, you see the “Task Manager has been disabled by your administrator” error message.

task manager disabled error message

To enable Task Manager via the registry, change the Value Data of DisableTaskMgr from 1 to 0 or delete the value by right-clicking and selecting “Delete.”

That is all. It is that simple to disable Task Manager in Windows 10 and 11.

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.

If you like this article, check out different ways to lock Windows.

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