Prevent access to the command prompt: registry value DisableCMDUserHKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System

Policy ID: DisableCMD
Scope: User Configuration
Supported on: At least Windows 2000
Source: Administrative Templates (.admx) for Windows 11 2026 Update (26H2) (version 1.0)
Category: System

Registry

DisableCMD

REG_DWORDUser

HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System Current key

Enabled value: Depends on the option value
Element: Disable the command prompt script processing also?

Options
Item	Stored value
Yes	1
No	2

Apply with .reg · CMD · PowerShell

.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System]

; Options (use only one)
; Yes
"DisableCMD"=dword:00000001
; No
"DisableCMD"=dword:00000002

CMD

:: Options (use only one)

:: Yes
reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System" /v "DisableCMD" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
:: No
reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System" /v "DisableCMD" /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f

PowerShell

# Common: create the key
New-Item -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System' -Force | Out-Null

# Options (use only one)
# Yes
New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System' -Name 'DisableCMD' -PropertyType DWord -Value 1 -Force | Out-Null
# No
New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System' -Name 'DisableCMD' -PropertyType DWord -Value 2 -Force | Out-Null