System administrators and pro users often modify the group policies to configure advanced system settings and better system management. In fact, I myself have shown you several Windows tips where you need to modify the group policies. However, have you ever wanted to see what group policies are applied to your PC?
Knowing what group policies are applied to your system can you in troubleshooting, optimizing, and auditing. In this tutorial, I will show you three methods to find which group policies are applied on your PC. Let’s get started.
Before You Begin
You need administrative privileges to see what policies are applied to your system.
Finding What Group Policies Are Applied
On Windows, you can filter out all the applied policies using the Resultant Se of Policy tool, built-in group policy filters, or via the command line. I will show all three methods and no matter which method you follow, you can see all the applied group policies. So, choose one and follow the steps.
Using Resultant Set of Policy Tool
Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP) is a built-in tool in Windows that lists all the applied group policies with a single click. Here’s how to open and use it.
1. First, open the Run dialog box by pressing the Windows key + R shortcut.
2. Type rsop.msc in the Run field and click OK to open the Resultant Set of Policy tool.
3. As soon as you open the Resultant Set of Policy program, it will automatically scan your system to find all the modified/applied group policies. The scan process will take a few seconds to complete.
4. Once the scan is done, the program lists all the applied policies. The UI of the RSoP tool is similar to the Group Policy Editor and it categorizes all the applied policies in the same folders as the Group Policy Editor. So, expand each folder to see applied policies.
That is all. It is that simple. You have all the information you need about the applied policies in a single tool. Which is simply great.
Using Filtering Options in Group Policy Editor to See Applied Policies
Most don’t know this but Group Policy Editor has a filter functionality that allows you to filter out all the modified policies. The limitation of this method is that you can only find applied policies under the Administrative Templates folder under both Computer and User configurations. Since most of the policies you generally configure are under the Administrative Templates folder, it is good enough in most cases.
1. First, open the Start menu, search for Edit Group Policy, and click on the top result to open the Group Policy Editor.
2. In the Group Policy window, right-click on the Administrative Templates folder on the left panel and select the Filter Options option.
3. In the ‘Filter Options’ window, set the options under ‘Select the type of policy settings to display’ as shown below and click OK to save changes.
- Managed: Yes
- Configured: Yes
- Commented: Any
4. As soon as you do that, the Group Policy window will show the applied policies of that folder in the main window.
That is it. From now on, the Group Policy Editor will only show the enabled and disabled policies.
Reset Group Policy Filter
Once you are done, right-click on the Administrative Templates folder and uncheck the Filter On option.
The best thing, you can turn on the filter again to quickly see the applied group policies.
Command Line Approach to See Applied Group Policies
For those of you who like the command line approach, you can use the gpresult command to see applied group policies. Here’s how to use it.
1. First, open the Start menu. Search for Command Prompt, right-click on the top result, and click on the Run as Administrator option.
2. In the Command Prompt window, run the below commands to see applied group policies under Computer Configuration and User Configuration.
To find applied policies under Computer Configuration:
gpresult /Scope Computer /v
To find applied policies under User Configuration:
gpresult /Scope User /v
Wrapping Up – Filtering out Applied Group Policies in Windows
By following one of three methods, you can easily find out what group policies are applied to your computer or a user. If you want a GUI approach then use the RSoP tool (Resultant Set of Policy). On the other hand, if you’d like to have a detailed report of applied policies with additional information such as the security groups, last applied policy, and more, follow the command line approach.
Once you know which group policies are applied, you can also backup those Group Policy Settings, if needed.
If you have any questions, comment below and we’ll answer.
