How to Remove Shut Down and Restart Options Using Local Group Policy

This article shows how to remove Shut Down, Restart, Sleep, and Hibernate options from the Start Menu, Ctrl+Alt+Del screen, and other areas using Local Group Policy on a Windows machine. 

Applies to all users, admins will still be able to restart from the V2 admin dashboard and within the computer using the CMD command: shutdown /r /t 0

Connect to the admin session of your cloud computer and follow these steps:

✅ Step 1: Open Local Group Policy Editor

1. Click on the start button.
2. Type: gpedit.msc
3. Press Enter.

✅ Step 2: Find the Correct Setting

1. In the Local Group Policy Editor, go to:

User Configuration → Administrative Templates → Start Menu and Taskbar

1. On the right side, double-click this setting:

Remove and prevent access to the Shut Down, Restart, Sleep, and Hibernate commands

✅ Step 3: Enable the Policy

1. In the window that opens, select Enabled.
2. Click Apply, then OK.

✅ Step 4: Apply the Changes

To make the changes take effect:

Run this command in a Command Prompt:

gpupdate /force

Tags: Group Policy, gpupdate, shutdown, restart