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Group Policy settings show as Extra Registry Settings and can't be edited

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Applies to:   Supported versions of Windows Server and Windows Client

This article describes a registry setting that allows you to configure the Group Policy Editor to use local Administrative Template files (ADMX/ADML) instead of the Central Store.

ADMX/ADML file versions

You use updated ADMX/ADML files in the Central Store under the SYSVOL folder for Group Policy tools on a domain controller. The Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) on clients uses the ADMX/ADML files in the Central Store instead of the local folder C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions.

In this situation, some Group Policy settings can't be configured on computers (either domain controllers or clients with Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) installed) that use the different versions of the ADMX/ADML files which you use for different OS versions or applications. The settings appear as Extra Registry Settings in the Group Policy Editor when the PolicyDefinitions folder doesn't have the correct versions of ADMX/ADML files. The updated ADMX/ADML files in the domain Central Store (SYSVOL) don't contain the editor data for these settings.

Note

You can still update or remove the settings using the PowerShell cmdlet Set-GPRegistryValue or Remove-GPRegistryValue.

ADMX/ADML files might not contain some settings

This issue occurs because the updated ADMX/ADML files might not contain some settings for computers that use the different versions of the ADMX/ADML files.

But you can't merge the ADMX/ADML files, because the different versions use the same file names.

Use local ADMX/ADML files instead of the Central Store

Important

This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For protection, back up the registry before you modify it so that you can restore it if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, see How to back up and restore the registry in Windows.

There's a registry setting that allows the use of local ADMX/ADML files at C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions instead of the Central Store for computers running the Group Policy Editor.

To use the ADMX/ADML files in the local store, manually set the following registry value to 1 under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Group Policy:

Value name Value type Value data
EnableLocalStoreOverride REG_DWORD 0 - Use the PolicyDefinitions folder in the SYSVOL folder if present (default).

1 - Always use the local PolicyDefinitions folder.

For more information, see How to create and manage the Central Store for Group Policy Administrative Templates in Windows.