How to Prevent a Group Policy From Applying

The process of preventing a group policy from applying to any user or machine can be easily accomplished by disabling the corresponding snap-in value. Generally, administrators need to enforce permissions and restrictions to groups of users while maintaining certain power users unaffected by these policies. Preventing policies from affecting administrators can be configured through the group policy management console. You will need administrative rights to make these modifications.

Instructions

Disable for Administrators

1. Log into the system as an administrator.

2. Click the "Start" menu, select "Administrative Tools" and choose "Group Policy Management."

3. Expand the "Forest," "Domains" and "Domain Name" that corresponds to the administrators you wish to keep unaffected.

4. Expand "Group Policy Objects" and choose the group policy you wish to prevent from affecting administrators.

5. Select the "Delegation" tab on the right pane, choose "Advanced" on the bottom-right corner.

6. Click the "Add" button and enter the name of the administrator whose account you wish to keep unaffected by the policy. Click "OK" to save changes.

Disable a Policy

1. Launch the group policy by clicking "Start," typing "gpedit.msc" in the "Start Search" text field and pressing "Enter."

2. Expand "User Configuration" or "Computer Configuration" to find the policy you wish to disable.

3. Continue expanding to the desired sub-folder within each node (Software Settings, Windows Settings or Administrative Templates).

4. Double-click the desired policy on the right pane. A "Properties" window will open. Choose the desired status (Enabled, Disabled or Not Configured) by clicking the corresponding radio button and confirm by clicking "Apply" and "OK."

References

• Microsoft Support: Prevent Group Policies From Applying to Administrator Accounts