If you are working on an organization PC, you may have noticed that you cannot access a USB because the organization administrator blocks it.
Similarly, for those who want to prevent access to removable storage devices and ports on a Windows 11/10 computer, this is how it can be done with the local group policy editor’s or Registry Editor’s help. Let’s say your computer has a large amount of private or confidential data, and you don’t want to let other people copy it to a USB drive. Otherwise, think that you do not want others to use a USB device such as a wired printer, keyboard, mouse, external hard drive, etc. It would be best if you then disabled the removable storage classes.
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How can I Disable Detachable Storage classes in Windows 11/10 using Local Group Policy Editor?
To disable removable storage classes in Windows 11/10, with the help of the Group Policy Editor, follow these steps-
Step 1. Click or tap
Step 2. Type
Step 3. Navigate to the following:-
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Removable Storage Access
Step 4. On the Removable Storage Access, from the right-side pane, double-click on the policy name “All Removable Storage classes: Deny all access.”
Step 5. Select the
Step 6. Finally, reboot the PC to make changes.
Once the above steps are completed, access to all removable storage devices and ports on your Windows 11/10 computer is discontinued.
How can I Enable Detachable Storage classes in Windows 11/10 using Group Policy?
If you change your mind and want to enable removable storage access in Windows 11/10, do the following steps:-
Step 1. Click or tap
Step 2. Type
Step 3. Navigate to the following:-
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Removable Storage Access
Step 4. On the Removable Storage Access, from the right-side pane, double-click on the policy name “All Removable Storage classes: Deny all access.”
Step 5. Select the
Step 6. Finally, restart the PC to make changes.
Once the above steps are completed, access to all removable storage devices and ports on your Windows 11/10 computer is enabled.
How to Turn On or Off Detachable Storage Access in Windows 11/10 through Registry Editor?
To enable or disable detachable storage access on your Windows 11/10 through Registry Editor, perform the following steps:-
Step 1. Open Registry Editor.
Step 2. When Registry Editor opens, navigate to the following path:-
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows
Step 3. Then, right-click the
Step 4. Name the newly created key as
Step 5. After that, right-click on the newly created key
Step 6. Name the newly created REG_DWORD as
Step 7. Next, double-click on the newly created DWORD and set the value to the following:-
- 0 – Allow
- 1 – Disallow
Step 8. Click
Step 9. Finally, reboot your computer or laptop to apply the changes.
That’s it. Windows 11/10 will allow or disallow removable storage access, depending on your configuration.
