Looking for easy ways to prevent users from changing theme in Windows 10?
Windows comes with several customizable features that allow users to manage their operating systems according to their own preferences.
Administrators also have the option to limit access of other users to particular features they do not want them messing them, which is ideal for situations where a single computer is being used by multiple users.
Windows theme is one such customizable feature that alters color schemes, sound, pointers, screensavers, and background images. Now, there can be certain situations where you would want to prevent the users from changing the theme in Windows 10.
Maybe your computer is used by users who are curious and like to experiment with Windows programs and features, or maybe your school/office requires all the guest computers to have the same theme.
In any case, you are in the right place.
This guide will walk you through the methods of preventing users from changing themes in Windows 10 in great detail.
Let’s get started.
1. Use the Group Policy Editor.
If you have been dealing with administrative-level tools and features of Windows, you might already be aware of the Group Policy Editor (GPE).
This feature allows the users to control the working environment of their operating system better. The information of Windows programs and processes in GPE is stored in the form of policies. The policies can be adjusted according to the particular requirements, which is exactly what we are going to do in this method.
Here is what you need to do:
- Press Windows + R keys simultaneously to open a Run dialogue box.
- Type ‘gpedit.msc‘ in the text field of the dialogue box and hit Enter. Doing so will launch Group Policy Editor.
- In the newly launched window, navigate to the location mentioned below.
User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Control Panel\Personalization\
- In the right pane, locate Prevent changing theme and double-click on it.
- Click Enabled and hit Apply/OK to save the changes.
- Now check if required changes have been made. If not, then continue with the 7th step.
- Type cmd in the search bar and click on Run as administrator. This will launch elevated Command Prompt on your screen.
- Inside the Command Prompt window, type the command mentioned below and hit Enter to execute it.
gpupdate /force
This should prevent users from changing the theme in Windows 10.
2. Try Using CleanMyPC.
We all experience situations where junk files in our operating system prevent us from performing certain operations. If the methods in this guide don’t work for you, that probably means that the junk files on your PC are causing the problem.
If this is the case, we recommend removing junk files from your PC before implementing the methods we have listed.
However, identifying all the junk files and deleting them one by one is not an easy task. It can consume lots of time and energy, which is why we recommend using a reliable PC cleaner for this purpose. CleanMyPC is the highly recommended solution if you’re on the lookout for one.
CleanMyPC is one of the most popular PC cleaning utilities on the market. You can use it to keep your computer in great shape. This tool comes with a large variety of system maintenance tools including a Speed Booster, a Registry Cleaner, a Multi-Uninstaller, and more.
To get started, download and install CleanMyPC on your computer. The tool will handle everything else!
3. Use Windows Registry.
If using the Group Policy Editor did not work for you, you can try using Windows Registry to perform the intended operation.
Advanced users can utilize Windows Registry to manage their operating systems the same way they do with Group Policy Editor. But unlike the Group Policy Editor, the information in the Registry Editor is stored in the form of keys. In this method, we will modify the relevant keys in the Registry.
Here is what you need to do:
- Open a Run dialogue box by pressing Windows + R keys simultaneously.
- Type ‘regedit‘ in the text field of the dialogue box and hit Enter. Doing so will launch Windows Registry on your PC.
- Inside the Registry Editor, navigate to the location mentioned below.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
- If the Explorer key is missing, right-click on the Policies key and select the New > Key option.
- Rename this newly created key as Explorer and double-click on it.
- In the right pane, right-click anywhere and select the New > DWORD (32-bit) Value option.
- Rename this value as NoThemesTab.
- Double-click on NoThemesTab and under Value data, type 1.
- Once done, restart your PC.
Doing so will prevent users from changing themes successfully.
This brings us to the end of our guide on ways to prevent users from changing themes in Windows 10. It was our aim to tell you each step in detail, and we hope that one of the methods explained so far was of help to you. In case you still have any confusion about the methods, please let us know in the comment section below.
If this guide helped you, please share it. 🙂
