Windows – Clear Group Policy Cache

That's quite uncommon, but if we need to clear the local cache of Group Policies (GPO) on a workstation/laptop joined to a domain, there are three main methods we can use to accomplish this activity.

Method 1

  • Open My Computer / Computer
  • In the URL or address bar paste: %windir%\system32\GroupPolicy.
  • Right click and delete the: Machine and User folders to clear local group policy cache.
  • Restart the computer to reapply the group policies.

Note: you can also run gpupdate /force on the machine to force the policy to reapply.

You can also run the little PowerShell oneliner as Administrator to remove the Group Policy folder and all files below:

#requires -Version 1.0
#Requires -RunAsAdministrator

Remove-Item "$env:windir\system32\GroupPolicy" -Force -Recurse

Method 2

  • Delete the HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft Key (looks like a folder).
  • Delete the HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft Key.
  • Delete the HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Group Policy Objects Key.
  • Delete the HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies Key.

Method 3

  • Remove the computer from the domain – (change to a Workgroup).
  • Restart computer.
  • Run gpupdate /force.
  • Rejoin the domain.