Have you ever encountered the “This program is blocked by Group Policy error” on your computer? This error is usually caused by Windows group policy settings and can prevent users from running certain programs. If you are facing this issue, don’t worry, as it can easily be fixed.
In this guide, we will show you how to fix errors in Windows 10; also tell the reasons for what caused that. We will provide step-by-step instructions to help you resolve this issue quickly and easily. So let’s get started!
Main Causes of “This program is blocked by group policy”
There could be several causes of this “program is blocked by group policy” issue. I have found some issues that can be the root cause of this issue. Some of the main things that I noticed while my research are as under
- The Software Restriction Policy is a tool introduced by Microsoft to enhance user experience, but it can sometimes cause issues if the user enabled it and forgot about it.
- Bugs in computer applications and software can also cause the Software Restriction Policy to be enabled, leading to issues with running applications.
- Third-party programs, such as security software, can also cause the issue of “This program is blocked by group policy.”
Now in this next phase, we will learn about the solution to the “This program is blocked by group policy” error. Please keep in mind that you need to try all the methods and look for yourself if a technique doesn’t work for you to move to the next one.
Solving This program is blocked by group policy
The following steps will help you get rid of the problem and have a beautiful day. Please make sure that you follow them to the letter. Otherwise, they won’t work for you.
Method 1- Performing a clean boot
A clean boot is something beneficial. It can help you save a lot of time and effort and solve the problem. Sometimes a cleaner boot just kills all of the issues, and it is also the first method to try out.
You might have noticed that third-party applications on the computer can cause interference with apps. It can also cause the issue, i.e., This program is blocked by group policy.
The best way to get rid of these third-party apps’ interference is a clean boot. There are a lot of chances that you will get rid of the issue without anything hard. Follow the below steps
- Open the “Run” window by pressing the “Window key” along with “R”. Then Write down “msconfig” and click “Ok”.
- After opening msconfig First, select “Selective startup,” then only uncheck “Load startup items” and keep “Load system services” checked.
- Go to the “Services” tab, check “Hide all Microsoft services” > click “Disable all”.
- Going to the next tab, “Startup,” in that click on “Open Task Manager“.
- Disable all startups by selecting them one by one and hitting the “Disable” button. There is no way to disable all startups in a single click. Close that window.
- After clicking on “Apply” > “Ok”.
- Now a popup window opens and telling to restart your system by pressing the “Restart” button.
Method 2- Scanning the system using bootable media
Another great way to solve the problem is to scan it with a bootable medium simply. You can do it by downloading some software like “Rescue CD,” Bitdefender Rescue CD, or AVG Business PC rescue CD. Make sure you have downloaded the software on a nonaffected computer. This might come in handy when solving the problem.
Method 3- Disabling software restriction policy via .BAT file
- The first method is useful when it comes to solving the “This program is blocked by group policy” error. All you need is to right-click on your desktop and scroll down to “new.” There you need to make a new notepad file. Now once you have created a new notepad file, paste the following lines of code in that file.
REG ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\ /v DefaultLevel /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00040000 /f 
- Now save the document and make sure you name it Fix.BAT. The name isn’t significant; you can give it anything you want. Make sure that the file ends with .BAT. Now click on save and exit.
- Next, you have to open the file from where you have saved it. If it asks for confirmation, make sure you confirm it. Now the file with Fix.BAT extension will launch a command prompt and execute the command line. It is the same command line that we have pasted in the notepad document.
Don’t worry, as it will not take long. Once the command prompt has done running the command line successfully, it will be closed by itself. You will have to restart your PC after that. Now after a reboot, tries launching the app and see if it works. However, if the problem persists, move to the next method.
Method 4- Removing Config group policies via Reg. Editor
Another technique that can help you solve that particular problem is the registry editor tool. With the help of a registry editor, you can disable the software restriction policy. For this, you will need to follow the steps below exactly.
- The first thing that you need to do is to open the “Run” window. You can do this by pressing the window key along with R. A window will pop up, which is called the Run window. As soon as you get the run window, type “regedit” into the dialogue box and hit enter.
- Hitting enter key after typing “regedit” should open the registry editor if you have typed it correctly. Now once you have the registry editor, I want you to go to the following Dir.
- Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and open the Software folder.
- Under the Software, open “Policies“. Lookout at the Microsoft Folder.
- Right-click on the “Microsoft” sub-key and then click on delete in the menu. After that, a popup appears. Click on yes for confirmation of the action.
Now once again, navigate your way to the following directory.
- As the previous method, go to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER and find the “Software” folder and open Microsoft.
- Under Microsoft, find “Windows” and open it up; in there, you will see the CurrentVesrion folder.
- And this time, right-click on the Group Policy subkey under the current version. Now click on delete and press yes for confirmation.
Now restart your computer and try running the application to see if the problem is still there. It will turn the software restriction policy off. I hope this method will work for you; otherwise, you will have to navigate your way to method 5.
Method 5- Create a new user
Sometimes the user can get bugs or get affected by malware etc. In such cases, it started causing different kinds of errors. The best way to get rid of these errors is to create a new user. Creating a new user on your pc may save you from different corrupted files. As a result, you may not see. This program is blocked by group policy again.
Conclusion
In this article, we have gone through detailed information about the “This program is blocked by group policy” error. First, we learned about the possible causes of the issue. After learning about the causes, we learned different ways to solve the problem. I hope it will help you get rid of the error and start living happy life again.
If this article helped you solve the problem, make sure o share it with your friends and family. Also, let me know in the comment if you want me to add any improvements to the article.