Top 4 Ways to Back Up the Local Group Policy Editor on Windows 11

On Windows 11 computer, the Local Group Policy allows you to make specific settings configurations for users and computers. This utility can augment performance, improve security, and create customized experiences for different accounts. Note that Local Group Policy Editor is available only in Windows 11 Professional, Enterprise and Education editions.

When you back up the Local Group Policy, you can protect your PC from accidental changes that can cause crashes or overall sluggishness. We will provide you with different methods to take a back up of the Local Group Policy Editor settings.

1. Manually Backing up the Group Policy Editor Using File Explorer

On Windows 11, the File Explorer is a utility for managing files on the computer. With this utility, you can open files, browse through folders and files, copy and move files, or create new folders. You may also use File Explorer to back up or export Local Group Policy settings.

Step 1: Press Windows + E keyboard shortcut on your keyboard to open File Manager.

Step 2: Navigate to the path below:

C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy

Step 3: Select all the files in this folder, right-click on them, and click the copy icon.

Step 4: You may save the copied files in a different location or drive.

2. Backup the Local Group Policy Editor From Within the Editor Tool

You may export and back up your settings using the Group Policy Editor itself. This is possible because the utility provides an export function. Let us show you how to use it.

Step 1: Press Windows + R keyboard shortcut on your keyboard.

Step 2: Type gpedit.msc and hit Enter to open the Editor.

Step 3: Click the Action menu option and select Export List.

Step 4: Select a location, input the desired file name, and click Save.

3. Copy the Local Group Policy Editor With the lGPO.exe Tool

The Local Group Policy Editor (LGPO.exe) tool is an executable for automating Local Group Policy management. This tool replaces the discontinued LocalGPO tool built into the Security Compliance Manager (SCM) and the Apply_LGPO_Delta and ImportRegPol tools. You may get it from the LGPO download page on the Microsoft website and use it as shown below.

Step 1: Navigate to the official download page and click on Download.

Step 2: Select the LGPO.zip and click the Download button at the bottom of the list.

Step 3: Right-click on the downloaded folder and select Extract All.

Step 4: Click Extract.

Step 5: Go to the folder where you extracted it, and copy the LGPO executable.

Step 6: Press Windows + E keyboard shortcut to open File Explorer, navigate to the path below, and paste the executable.

C:\WINDOWS\System32

Step 7: Press Windows + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run dialog, type cmd, and hit Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open Command Prompt with administrator rights.

Step 8: Type the script below replacing backup_folder_location with an actual backup path, then hit Enter:

LGPO.exe /b [backup_folder_location]

4. Backup Local Group Policy Editor Using the VBS

Visual Basic Scripting (VBS) is a Microsoft active scripting language that is lightweight and interpreted. You may use it to automate Windows tasks, run programs, manage folders, or configure settings. It may also save the Local Group policy settings, as shown below.

Step 1: Click the Window Search on the taskbar, type notepad, and click on the Notepad.

Step 2: Paste the script below in your notepad, substituting C:\Backup\LocalGPO with the folder path where you want to keep the backup:

' VBScript to backup Local Group Policy Editor settings
Option Explicit
Dim strBackupFolder, objGPO, objRSOP
' Specify the folder where you want to store the backup
strBackupFolder = "C:\Backup\LocalGPO"
' Create a shell object for file system operations
Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
' Create the backup folder if it doesn't exist
If Not objShell.FolderExists(strBackupFolder) Then
objShell.CreateFolder(strBackupFolder)
End If
' Create an instance of the RSOP_GroupPolicyObject class
Set objRSOP = CreateObject("GPEDIT.GPEdit")
' Get a reference to the Local Group Policy Object
Set objGPO = objRSOP.GetLocalGPO()
' Backup the Local Group Policy
objGPO.BackupLocalGPO strBackupFolder
' Display a message indicating the backup is complete
WScript.Echo "Local Group Policy settings have been backed up to: " & strBackupFolder
' Clean up
Set objGPO = Nothing
Set objRSOP = Nothing
Set objShell = Nothing

Step 3: Click the File menu at the top-right corner and select Save as.

Step 4: Name the file, adding a .VBS to the end of the name, then click on Save.

Step 5: Double-click on the saved file, and the script should run, saving your Local Group Policy in the predefined location.

Restore a Local Group Policy Editor Settings

The Local Group Policy Editor settings on Windows 11 are saved in the system32 folder. So, regardless of the means you used to backup these settings, you may restore them by copying them to this folder as shown below.

Step 1: Copy the backup files to your clipboard.

Step 2: Press Windows + E keyboard shortcut to open File Explorer and navigate to the path below:

C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy

Step 3: Paste the backup files to successfully restore your Local Group Policy settings.

Never Lose Your Group Policy Settings on Windows 11

It is essential you create a backup for your Local Group Policy settings so that you continue using your computer even after a a crash. Also, if you had to reinstall Windows, you may want to reapply some settings at a time instead of tinkering them individually.

On Windows 11, you will find all the solutions we offered in this guide very useful. However, we love to hear your favorites, so please tell us in the comment section below.