How-To

How to Disable Task Manager on Windows 11

By Brian Burgess

Published July 5, 2023

Task Manager is a powerful utility on your PC, but if you want to limit access to it, follow the steps in this guide.

Task Manager is a powerful built-in utility that provides you with information about the software, services, and hardware on your system. While it’s the perfect utility to troubleshoot apps and other issues, you might want to disable Task Manager on Windows 11.

The Task Manager utility provides real-time app and system data and is valuable for troubleshooting problems. For example, you can use it to end processes, end app tasks, and find your PC’s uptime.

However, if you have an inexperienced user, you might not want certain users to access it and make unwanted system changes. Here’s how to do it.

How to Disable Task Manager on Windows 11 via Group Policy

If you want to restrict Task Manager access, you can use a Group Policy rule to do it.

Note: This option uses Group Policy Editor, which is only available on Windows 11 Pro, Education, and Enterprise editions. You can upgrade from Home to Pro or continue to the next step if you’re running Windows 11 Home.

To disable Task Manager via Group Policy on Windows 11:

1. Press Windows key + R to launch the Run dialog window.
2. Type gpedit.msc and click OK or press Enter.
3. When Group Policy Editor opens, navigate to the following path:

   User Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Ctrl+Alt+Del Options

   

4. Click the Remove Task Manager policy in the right pane.
5. Set the policy to Enabled and click Apply and OK to save changes.
6. When users attempt to open Task Manager, they will be greeted with a message indicating the administrator has disabled it.

How to Disable Task Manager via Registry

If you’re on a Home version of Windows 11 or you’d simply prefer to use the Registry to disable Task Manager, you can.

Note: This process requires you to change values in the Registry. Changing or deleting the wrong value can cause an unstable or unbootable system. Make sure you back up the Registry and create a Restore Point first to recover your PC if something goes wrong.

To disable Task Manager using Windows Registry:

1. Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog window.
2. Type regedit and click OK or press Enter.
3. Navigate to the following path:

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

4. Right-click the System folder and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value).
5. Name the value to DisableTaskMgr.
6. Set the value data to 1 and click OK.
7. Close out of Registry Editor and restart Windows 11.

Task Manager is now disabled, and if users try to open it, they will see the notification that the administrator has disabled it. If you want to reenable it in the future, go back to the Registry and set the DisableTaskMgr value to 0.

How to Disable Task Manager Using the Command Line

If you prefer to use the command line for your system administration, you can use the PowerShell terminal to disable or enable Task Manager.

For clarity, you can use these commands with Windows PowerShell, the newer Windows Terminal, or the older command prompt.

To disable Task Manager from the command line:

1. Press the Windows key, type PowerShell, and select the Run as administrator link on the Start menu.
2. When the terminal opens, enter the following command and press Enter:

   reg add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v DisableTaskMgr /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

   

3. To reenable Task Manager in the future, run the following command:

   reg add HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v DisableTaskMgr /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

   

Using Task Manager on Windows 11

Task Manager is a powerful built-in Windows utility that serves many purposes and is vital when troubleshooting problems. But if you don’t want unwanted system changes, disable it for other PC users by using the steps above.

There are other things you might want to do with the Windows utility. For example, you might want to make Task Manager always display on top of other windows. You may want to use Task Manager to monitor app power usage.

If you prefer a specific section to always appear when you launch Task Manager, you can change the Task Manager startup page. And if you’re still on Windows 10, learn how to make Task Manager open to a specific tab.