Group Policy Settings for Control Panel

Applies To: Windows 7

There are several Group Policy settings that control the behavior of Control Panel in Windows 7.

The full path of this node in the Group Policy Management Console is:

User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Control Panel

Available policy settings:

Name Explanation Requirements

Always open All Control Panel items

This policy setting allows you to set the Control Panel to open with Small icons.

If you enable this policy setting, you force Control Panel to open with the icon view set to Small. The user can change the icon view to Categories or Large, but the next time Control Panel is opened, the icon view will be Small again.

If you disable the policy setting, Control Panel opens with the last view that was in use.

Note
This setting is the same as the Windows Vista setting Force classic control panel view. It was renamed to reflect Windows 7 behavior.

At least Windows XP Professional or Windows Server 2003 family

Hide specified Control Panel items

This policy setting allows you to hide specified Control Panel items.

If you enable this policy setting, you remove Control Panel items (such as Mouse, System, or Personalization) from the Control Panel window and the Start menu. To hide a Control Panel item, enter the Control Panel item's canonical name (for example, Microsoft.Mouse, Microsoft.System, or Microsoft.Personalization).

For a complete list of canonical and module names of Control Panel items, see Executing Control Panel Items (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=122973) on the Microsoft Web site.

Note

If you enable the Hide specified Control Panel items policy setting and the Show only specified Control Panel items policy setting, the Show only specified Control Panel items policy setting is ignored.

Note

You cannot use this policy setting to hide the Display Control Panel items in the Desktop context menu. To hide the Display Control Panel items and prevent users from modifying the computer's display settings, use the Disable Display Control Panel policy setting.

At least Windows 2000

Show only specified Control Panel items

This policy setting allows you to specify which items appear on the Start menu and in Control Panel, and it provides other ways to access Control Panel items (such as shortcuts in Help and Support or command lines that use control.exe).

If you enable this policy setting, you hide all Control Panel items and folders except those specified in this setting. This setting removes all Control Panel items (such as Mouse, System, or Personalization) from the Control Panel window and the Start menu. The only items displayed in Control Panel are those you specify in this setting.

To display a Control Panel item, enter the Control Panel item's canonical name (for example, Microsoft.Mouse, Microsoft.System, or Microsoft.Personalization).

For a complete list of canonical and module names of Control Panel items, see Executing Control Panel Items (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=122973) on the Microsoft Web site.

Note

If you enable the Hide specified Control Panel items policy setting and the Show only specified Control Panel items policy setting, the Show only specified Control Panel items policy setting is ignored.

At least Windows 2000

Prohibit access to the Control Panel

This policy setting allows you to disable all Control Panel programs.

If you enable this policy setting, you prevent Control.exe from starting. As a result, users cannot start Control Panel or run any Control Panel items. It also removes Control Panel from the Start menu, and it removes the Control Panel folder from Windows Explorer.

If users try to select a Control Panel item from the Properties menu, a message appears that explains a policy setting prevents the action.

At least Windows 2000