TuneComp

Unable to change default search engine in Chrome: This setting is enforced by your administrator

The problem: the default search engine in Chrome is locked with a message:

This setting is enforced by your administrator

In most cases you will see an unknown website assigned as your default search and there will be no button to change it. Only this icon:

Search engine is locked by the policy “This setting is enforced by your administrator”

Here is how to unblock the settings in Chrome and finally change the default search in your browser.

The notification This setting is enforced by your administrator appears if the default search engine setting is restricted by the group policy. So all you you need to do is remove this policy. Follow the steps:

Step 1. Run the command prompt as administrator:

Step 2. Paste each of three strings into console and press Enter:

RD /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicyUsers" 
RD /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicy" 
gpupdate /force

Wait until two notifications appear:

User Policy update has completed successfully.
Computer Policy update has completed successfully.

Step 3. After that you can close the command promt window and try to change the default search engine in Chrome. Click “Make Default” to assign Google as your default search:

Step 4. Delete the unwanted (or fake) search engine from the list:

Adam Swift

Adam is a real tech maniac. He likes to spend time testing phones, tablets, laptops, as well as any other technical devices, and write practical manuals on their functions. He often sleeps all day, but always works at night. Adam bought his first computer in 1999, being an absolute beginner who never held a computer mouse in his hands. He began to study Windows, constantly experimented and often crashed the operating system. But six months later, he was able to reinstall Windows 98 from a scratch on his own, fix almost any software problem on a PC, he also did hardware upgrades and realized that computers, operating systems and programs are now his biggest passion. In addition, Adam has always been a big lover of phones. With the advent of smartphones with Android OS, he began to pick at them much more than in computers. Now Adam loves to study privacy issues in instant messengers, blocking unwanted calls and other nuances related to privacy and security on the network. You can follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/tunecomp

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View Comments

Jisha says:

2016-03-30 at 17:59

Worked for me !!
Thanks.
- Priyanka says:
  
  2016-08-27 at 08:52
  
  Thank you so much. It worked for me.
- Bhaskar says:
  
  2016-11-11 at 08:37
  
  worked, well, thanks
ahmed assaf says:

2016-04-06 at 18:36

thank you very much , solved my problem by your help
Alex says:

2016-04-07 at 03:44

I tried the admin command prompt, and it says "the system cannot find the file specified."

I read through the comments and it said to just put in the 2nd commande, but again it said "the system cannot find the file specified."

So then I came to these instructions from Adam Swift:

"Hi! You can also try the following:
1. navigate to ..\Windows\System32\GroupPolicyUsers\ and ..\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy\ .
2. manually delete all files inside those folders.
3. reboot your PC (or perform 'gpupdate /force' in elevated command prompt).

P.S. if you have x64 Windows try to empty GroupPolicy and GroupPolicyUsers folder in Windows\SysWOW64\ as well."

I tried this, but I do not have a file called "group policy." And to be clear, I DID view hidden files. It just isn't there.
- tune says:
  
  2016-04-07 at 09:05
  
  Well, it is really a question. I remember only one very rare case. The default search setting can be blocked in Chrome by another thing. Check this:
  Launch regedit.
  Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome\
  Ensure that "DefaultSearchProviderEnabled" is "0" and "DefaultSearchProviderSearchUrl" containts empty string.
  Restart browser.
  
  If this does not help either, scan for malware using Anti-Malware and AdwCleaner.
Andries says:

2016-04-13 at 20:02

Thanks a lot. It worked 100%
Jack says:

2016-04-18 at 20:54

Thanks works for me.
parthasarathi says:

2016-09-08 at 16:48

its work thank you
Jeff says:

2016-10-10 at 17:41

As it turned out This setting is enforced by your administrator message was really caused by adware! Thank you for this guide about policy removal!
Bhaskar says:

2016-11-11 at 08:36

excellent, its worked for me.
irfan says:

2017-04-05 at 03:27

Thank you it worked!
Pratyaksh says:

2017-06-05 at 12:24

u nailed it man. must say. Thanks