Windows is a very big and highly configurable operating-system. Generally, most settings could be managed via the settings app or the user interface. However, when it comes to some of the advanced settings like blocking driver updates or disabling Cortana, you're forced to make use of the Group Policy Editor. The good thing is, the group policy editor is quite easy to use and it has a ton of options to micromanage various areas of Windows.

After painstakingly configuring the audience policy settings, it is common that you want to back it up. The back up allows you to restore the audience policy settings whenever needed, like whenever you reinstall Windows. In this quick post, allow me to demonstrate how you can support group policy settings in Windows 10 and restore it when needed.

Note: Before proceeding, select a folder or drive where you'd like to store the backup. Usually of thumb, choose a folder that isn't in the OS installation driver, i.e. C drive.

Backup Group Policy Settings

To backup Windows 10 group policy settings, all you have to do is copy a few folders to the backup destination. In fact, the operation is much like backing up the Thunderbird profile. Just follow the below steps and you'll be golden.

1. First, open the file explorer by pressing the keyboard shortcut Win + I or by clicking on the file explorer icon on the taskbar.

2. Within the file explorer, copy the below path, paste it in the address bar and press Enter. This action will take you to the System32 folder in your C drive.
C:\Windows\System32\

3. Automatically, the folder we're searching for is hidden. To unhide the folder, click the "View" tab appearing towards the top of the file explorer and then choose the "Hidden items" checkbox.

4. Now, scroll down until you find a folder named "GroupPolicy" and double-click on it to spread out it. Once opened, you will see a couple of folders and files. Based on what changes you made, you might see different files or folders. So, don't worry if your folders and files didn't match the below image.
Note: If you don't use whatever folders then it's entirely possible that the body has no modified group policy settings. In that case then there's you don't need to backup group policy settings.

5. Select all of the files and folders using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + A and duplicate all of them with Ctrl + C.

6. After copying the files and folders, visit the destination folder and paste them with the Ctrl + V shortcut. For example, I created a new folder called "Group Policy Backup" within the cause of my D drive and pasted the copied files there.

That's it. You're done copying the Windows 10 group policy objects. As you can tell, it is simply copying a bunch of folders and files.

Restore Group Policy Settings

When you wish to restore the group policy backup, all you have to do is copy the backed up files and folders and paste them within the original folder.

1. First, open the file explorer and visit the location where you've stored the supported group policy settings. When you are here, select all of those files, right-click, and select "Copy".

2. Now, visit C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy\ folder and press Ctrl + V keyboard shortcut to paste the earlier copied files and folders. You might see a "Replace or Skip Files" prompt. Click the "Replace the files in the destination" option.

3. As this is a system folder, Windows 10 can have the access denied prompt. Simply select the "Do this for those current items" checkbox and then click the "Continue" button. This course of action will copy the supported files.

4. Finally, reboot the body and also the Group Policy settings will be restored.

That's it. It's that simple to backup and restore group policy settings in Windows 10.