2 Simple Ways To Hide Windows Settings Pages

by Myrel Nginsayan · Published September 5, 2022 · Updated September 12, 2022

Did you know that Windows allows you to restrict some access to your operating system and even hide Windows settings pages? This can prevent someone from looking at your system’s settings and making unwanted changes. In hiding Windows settings pages, you first need to know how to find the system names for your windows settings, and fortunately, the complete list of settings page reference names can be found on Microsoft Official website.

Hiding Settings Page in Windows

1. Hide Windows Settings Pages Using Group Policy Editor

Group Policy Editor allows users to configure and control the working environment for user and computer accounts. Group Policy Editor is part of the Administration tool that is also used to configure startup programs, password requirements, etc. To hide a Windows settings page using Group Policy Editor, follow the steps below.

Click on the search icon or the icon that looks like a magnifying glass then type “gpedit” then click on “Edit group policy” and then click on “Open”.

Under the “Local Computer Policy” pane, look for the “Computer Configuration” option, and below it, click on “Administrative Templates” and then double-click on “Control Panel” located on the right-hand side pane.

Double-click on “Settings Page Visibility”.

Click on the radio button beside “Enabled” to enable settings page visibility. Under the “Options:” section, you will find the “Settings Page Visibility:”. Type “hide:” followed by the settings page name that you want to hide. For Example, type “hide:network-wifi;storagesense” if you want to hide your network Wi-Fi and your storage information. Remember that you do not have to type hide in every other page settings name that you want to hide because you can merge them into one command but make sure to put a semi-colon to separate them. After inputting all the page settings pages that you want to hide, click the “Apply” button and then the “OK” button.

Alternatively, if you want to hide almost all of your settings page, you can type “showonly:” followed by the settings page name that you want to display. Example: “showonly:bluetooth”.

2. Hide Windows Settings Pages Using Registry Editor

Registry Editor is Microsoft Windows’ graphical tool that allows authorized users to view and edit the Windows registry. Windows registry act as a hierarchical database where the settings required for a computer to operate efficiently are stored. This means that only advanced users or administrators should make changes to the Windows registry and they should always create a backup before making changes so that in case of encountering an error during the changes, they can always revert back.

To hide Windows settings pages through Registry Editor, hit the Windows logo on your keyboard or click on the Start menu then type “regedit”. Double click on the “Registry Editor” or click on the “Open” menu from the left-side pane. You will be prompted to allow the application to make changes in your system, just click the “Yes” button to proceed.

Click “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE” then click on the “SOFTWARE” folder.

Scroll down until you will see the “Microsoft” folder then click on it and find the “Windows” folder. Under the “Windows” folder, click on the “CurrentVersion” folder and then go through the lists of folders underneath it until you will find the “Policies” folder.

After you find the “Policies” folder, click it then you will find the “Explorer” folder.

On the left-side pane of the window, you will see a lot of files. Double click on “SettingsPageVisibility”.

After you double-click on the “SettingsPageVisibility”, a pop-up window will appear. Under the “Value data:” type “hide:” followed by the setting page that you want to hide. If you want to hide multiple settings pages, separate them by using a semi-colon. Similarly, you can use the option “showonly:” to show only the settings page that you want to display. Click on the “OK” button to save the changes that you made.