How to enable or disable USB Write Protection on Windows 10
USB write access or USB write protection is the security function that can be activated for any USB data storage. The primary purpose of enabling USB write access is to maintain the integrity of the USB data storage. In this article, we will show you how to enable or disable USB write access on Windows 10.
By activating the write protection, the data on the disk will not be modified. Thus, it can prevent virus attacks on USB data storage or unauthorized access / copying of files from Windows 10 operating system to USB memory stick by PC users.
There are two types of write protection available for USB drives:
- Material write protection.
- Write protection for software.
Hardware write protection is primarily available in the card reader or floppy disks. In the hardware write protection, there will be a mechanical switch on the side of the card reader, in the floppy disk, there will be a black sliding block in the lower left corner. Once this switch is pulled, write protection is activated. To deactivate / deactivate, simply slide the switch down.
In this article, we will see how to enable or disable USB Write access using the software method.
Enable or disable USB write protection on Windows 10
There are two ways to enable or disable USB write protection on Windows 10:
- Registry Editor
- Local Group Policy Editor
Let’s take a closer look at the steps for each method.
1]Enable or disable USB write protection via the registry editor
This is a registry operation, so it is recommended that you back up the registry or create a system restore point if there is a problem. Once you have taken the necessary precautionary measures, you can do the following:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControl
- In the left pane, right-click the Control and choose New> Key and name it as StorageDevicePolicies and hit enter.
- Now click on StorageDevicePolicies.
- In the right pane, right-click an empty space and choose New> DWORD Value (32 bit) and name it as WriteProtect and hit enter.
- Then double-click on WriteProtect to modify its properties.
- Contribution 1 in the Value data box and press Enter to save the change.
- Restart the PC for the changes to take effect.
That’s it. You have correctly enabled write protection for USB drives via the registry editor.
If you want to disable write protection, open the registry editor and browse or navigate to the location below.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlStorageDevicePolicies
In the right pane, right-click the WriteProtect touch and select Remove.
Restart the PC for the changes to take effect.
2]Enable or disable USB write protection via the local Group Policy Editor
To enable or disable USB write protection through the local Group Policy Editor, follow these steps:
- hurry Windows key + R to call the Run dialog box.
- In the Run dialog box, type gpedit.msc and press Enter to open the Group Policy Editor.
- In the Local Group Policy Editor, in the left pane, navigate to the path below:
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Removable Storage Access
- In the right pane, scroll down and find the Removable disks: deny write access Politics.
- Double-click the policy to modify its properties.
- In the policy properties window, set the radio button to Activated.
- Click on Apply > Okay to save the changes.
- You can now exit the local Group Policy editor.
- Then press Windows key + R, type cmd and press Enter to open the command prompt.
- Type the command below and press Enter.
gpupdate /force
After updating the policy, restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
That’s it. You have correctly enabled write protection for USB drives via the local Group Policy editor.
If you want to disable write protection, repeat the above steps, but for the policy, set the radio button to disabled or Not configured.
I hope you find this post useful!
POINT: USB Write Protect is a free tool that allows you to enable or disable USB write protection with one click.
