Most Windows 10 PC users would never need to block or disable the Settings app and the classic Control Panel. You can always create a standard user account when you need to let others use your PC for some reason.
However, on certain occasions, you might want to disable or block both Settings app and Control Panel in Windows 10. For instance, when you don’t want to create another user account but would like to prevent s/he using your PC from making changes to your customized or default settings.
Windows 10 doesn’t offer an easy way to disable Control Panel and Settings. You need to enable or disable Settings and Control Panel either through Group Policy or Windows Registry.
Follow the given below directions to enable or disable Settings and Control Panel in Windows 10.
Method 1 of 2
Turn on or off Settings & Control Panel via Group Policy
Note that Group Policy Editor is not part of Windows 10 Home edition, meaning you cannot use Group Policy to enable or disable Settings and Control Panel in Home edition. Please use the Method 2 of this guide (Registry method) to enable or disable Settings and Control Panel via Windows Registry.
Step 1: Open the Local Group Policy Editor by typing its name in the Start/taskbar search field and then hitting the Enter key.
Step 2: In the Local Group Policy Editor window, navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel. On the right-side, look for Prohibit access to Control Panel and PC Settings policy, and then double-click on it to open its properties.
Step 3: Select the Enabled option to disable or block both the Settings and Control Panel. Click on the Apply button.
To re-enable Settings and Control Panel, select Not Configured. Click the Apply button.
Method 2 of 2
Enable or disable Settings and Control Panel via Registry
Step 1: Type Regedit in the Start/taskbar search field and then hit Enter key.
Click Yes button if you get the User Account Prompt.
Step 2: Navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Step 3: On the right-side, right-click on an empty spot, click New, click DWORD (32-bit) Value, and then name it as NoControlPanel.
Step 4: Finally, double-click on the NoControlPanel value and then set its value data to 1 to disable or block both the Control Panel and Settings.
Set the value to 0 or delete NoControlPanel value to enable both Control Panel and Settings app in Windows 10.
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