Disable Active Desktop

Policy ID
NoActiveDesktop
Scope
User Configuration
Supported on
Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000 only
Source
Administrative Templates (.admx) for Windows 11 2026 Update (26H2) (version 1.0)
Category
Desktop › Desktop

Description

Disables Active Desktop and prevents users from enabling it.

This setting prevents users from trying to enable or disable Active Desktop while a policy controls it.

If you disable this setting or do not configure it, Active Desktop is disabled by default, but users can enable it.

Note: If both the "Enable Active Desktop" setting and the "Disable Active Desktop" setting are enabled, the "Disable Active Desktop" setting is ignored. If the "Turn on Classic Shell" setting (in User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Windows Explorer) is enabled, Active Desktop is disabled, and both these policies are ignored.

Options

  • Disallows HTML and Jpg Wallpaper

Registry

Other policies in the same category

View all policies in this category (11)