Wish to restrict users from opening Command Prompt or running command-line scripts? Adopt these measures to disable Command Prompt in Windows.

In Windows, any user can open the Command Prompt and run commands or other scripts without much resistance. This is useful because you can run simple commands and get information that's otherwise unavailable or challenging in the regular mode. Of course, if you wish to run commands or scripts that need admin privileges then your command will prompt for those permissions.

That being said, Command Prompt is not for everybody and most seldom use it. So, if you're sure you do not need the Command Prompt or you wish to restrict other users from accessing the Command Prompt, Windows includes a hidden method to disable Command Prompt.

So, without further ado, allow me to demonstrate can disable the Command Prompt and Command Prompt script execution in Windows 10, Windows 7, and Windows 8.

Steps to Disable Command Prompt

Much like for a lot of things in Windows, there are two ways you can follow to limit Command Prompt. The first method is through the Group Policy Editor and also the second is by using the Registry Editor. If you work with Windows 10 Pro or Windows 10 Enterprise edition, stick to the first method. Otherwise, follow the second method.

1] Via Group Policy Editor

Group Policy Editor supplies a clean method to disable both Command Prompt and command-line scripts like BAT and CMD. All you need to do is pick a policy and you are all set.

1. First, open the Start Menu, search for "Edit Group Policy' and click on the search result to open the audience Policy Editor.

2. After opening the audience policy editor, go to the following folder around the left panel.

User Configuration → Administrative Templates → System

3. Around the right panel, find and double-click around the "Prevent access towards the Command Prompt" policy.

4. Once you double-click, an insurance policy properties window will open. Here, select the "Enabled" radio option. If you want to restrict users from running any type of CMD or BAT file, select "Yes" in the drop-down menu underneath the "Options" section.

5. Click "Apply" and "Ok" buttons to save changes.

6. Close the Group Policy Editor and reboot Windows to make the changes work.

After rebooting, no user can access the Command Prompt or run the CMD or BAT scripts based on your configuration. Should you ever want to enable Command Prompt, go through the above process again but select "Not Configured" or "Disabled" radio option in step four. Save changes, reboot Windows and you're simply done.

2] Via Registry Editor

If you're a Windows Home edition user, you won't have access towards the Group Policy Editor. As such, you have to use the Registry Editor to achieve the same task.

1. First, open the start menu, look for "Registry Editor" and then click the first lead to open the Windows Registry Editor.

2. Now, copy the below path, paste it within the address bar and press Enter. This course of action will give you to the target folder.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\

3. Now, right-click around the "Windows" folder and select "New → Key".

4. Name the new folder as "System" and press Enter to verify it.

5. Choose the System folder, right-click around the right panel and choose the "New → Dword value" option.

6. Name the new value as "DisableCMD" and press Enter to confirm it.

7. Double-click around the new value. Within the Edit Value window, set the worth data as follows and click on the "Ok" button in order to save changes.

1 - To disable Command Prompt and CMD and BAT script execution
2 - To disable Command Prompt only and allow script execution

8. Close the registry editor and reboot Windows.

That is it. In the future, you or other user will not be able to access the Command Prompt in Windows.

If you wish to revert the changes, simply delete the "DisableCMD" value we simply created.