Change Registry Permissions Windows 10

Sometimes you might encounter some registry keys that are protected by Windows. When you try to edit, rename or delete a protected registry key or value, you’ll get one of the following errors:

Can't Change Registry Permissions Windows 10
Reset Registry Permissions
Cannot Change Registry Permissions Windows 10
Change Registry Permissions Windows 10 Free

“Cannot edit {value_name}: Error writing the value’s new contents.”

“The Registry Editor cannot rename {key_name}. Error while renaming key.”

“Unable to delete all specified values.”

Change Permissions of File, Folder, Drive, or Registry Key for Users and Groups in Windows 10 Information On NTFS and ReFS volumes, you can set security permissions on files and folders. Jul 05, 2017 Fortunately, just like in the Windows file system, the Registry provides tools that let you take ownership of and edit permissions for keys. Here’s how to do it. We talk about a lot of cool things here at How-To Geek that you can do by editing the Windows Registry.

“Cannot delete {key_name}: Error while deleting key.”

Even you’re logged in as Administrator, you might still lack permissions to edit a protected registry key. In such cases, you need to take ownership of that particular key and grant full permissions to your signed-in account. This step-by-step tutorial will guide you how to take full ownership of protected registry key in Windows 10.

How to Take Full Ownership of Protected Registry Key?

To start, press the Windows logo key + R on your physical keyboard, type regedit and press Enter to open the Windows Registry.
Navigate to the protected key you want to take ownership of. For this example, we chose the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionSystemProtectedUserDataS-1-5-21-1176301877-597599738-4051979053-1001AnyoneReadLogon
Right-click on the protected key, and select Permissions from the context menu that appears.
In the Permissions window that appears, Click Advanced.
In the Advanced Security Settings dialog, you can see the current owner (SYSTEM or “TrustedInstaller“) of your selected key. Click on Change button.
This will open a new dialog box. Now type your user account name, and then click on “Check Names” button to convert the username to correct format. Click OK.
Now you’ll see that your user account is showing up as the owner. Check the “Replace owner on subcontainers and objects” option if you also want to take ownership of the subkeys. Click OK.
When back to the Permissions window, select the desired user name and then check Allow checkbox under the Full Control row, and click OK.
If your user account is not shown under the Group and user names list, click on Add button.
Close Registry Editor. Now you’ve taken ownership of a protected registry key and grant your account full permissions. That’s it!

Can't Change Registry Permissions Windows 10

We talk about a lot of cool things here at How-To Geek that you can do by editing the Windows Registry. Occasionally, though, you will run into a Registry key or value that you don’t have permission to edit. When you try, you’ll see an error message saying “Cannot edit _____: Error writing the value’s new contents.” Fortunately, just like in the Windows file system, the Registry provides tools that let you take ownership of and edit permissions for keys. Here’s how to do it.

Registry Editor is a powerful tool and misusing it can render your system unstable or even inoperable. So there’s a reason some of these Registry keys are protected. Editing a protected key can sometimes mess up Windows or the app the key relates to. We will never point you to any hacks that we haven’t tested ourselves, but it still pays to be careful. If you’ve never worked with the Registry before, consider reading about how to use the Registry Editor before you get started. And definitely back up the Registry (and your computer!) before making changes.

In Registry Editor, right-click the key that you can’t edit (or the key that contains the value you can’t edit) and then choose “Permissions” from the context menu.

In the Permissions window that appears, click the “Advanced” button.

Next, you’re going to take ownership of the Registry key. In the “Advanced Security Settings” window, next to the listed Owner, click the “Change” link.

In the “Select User or Group” window, in the “Enter the object name to select” box, type the name of your Windows user account (or your email address if you have a Microsoft account) and then click the “Check Names” button to validate the account name. When that’s done, click OK to close the “Select User or Group” window and then click OK again to close the “Advanced Security Settings” window.

Back at the regular Permissions window, select the Users group and then choose the “Allow” check box next to the “Full Control” permission. If you prefer, you can just give your user account full permissions rather than the Users group. To do that, click the Add button, walk through the steps to add your user account to the list, and then give that account the Full Control permission. Whichever method you choose, click OK when you’re done to return to Registry Editor.

Reset Registry Permissions

Back in Registry Editor, you should now be able to make the changes to the key you’ve taken ownership of and given yourself full permissions to edit. You likely won’t run into protected keys that often when editing the Registry. We rarely come across them ourselves. Still, it’s good to know how to get around that protection when you need to.

Cannot Change Registry Permissions Windows 10