Last Updated on July 12, 2026
If you are a power Windows user or do any type of Windows\systems administration type job, then you have most likely spent a lot of time in the Windows settings app. There are many sections here that can be used to take care of most Windows tasks such as system, Bluetooth & devices, network & internet, personalization, apps, accounts, gaming, accessibility, privacy & security and Windows Update.
If you have other users on your computer that you do not want to access certain Windows settings, then you can hide specific settings or only show specific settings as needed. This way, you do not have to worry about an end user making changes they shouldn’t, at least from the main settings app. In this article, we will be showing you two ways to show or hide specific Windows settings.
Method 1: Using the Local Group Policy Editor
1. Open the Group Policy Editor
If you are on a Windows Professional version such as Windows 11 Pro or a Windows Server edition, you will have access to the Local Group Policy Editor to make these changes. If you are on Windows Home edition, you will need to use the registry method below. You can also enable the Group Policy Editor in Windows Home manually if you are feeling techy. The easiest way to open the Local Group Policy Editor tool is to type gpedit from the Windows taskbar search box.
2. Navigate to the Correct Folder
Once you have the editor open, you will need to navigate to Computer Configuration. Then expand Administrative Templates and click on Control Panel. Finally double-click on Settings Page Visibility in the right-hand pane.
3. Enable the Policy
You will then need to enable the Settings Page Visibility policy by clicking the Enabled radio button at the top left. This action will activate a text box in the middle of the window. You can use this box to type in the exact string values to show or hide specific settings.
4. Input Your Custom Values
You will then use either ShowOnly: or Hide: to make these changes. ShowOnly is used to only show the settings you specify whereas Hide is used to hide a setting from view. The text below shows some examples of what you can enter in the Settings Page Visibility box. You can get a listing of all the values for the Settings app from the official Microsoft website here.
Hide:personalization-background (Hides the desktop background settings).
Hide:signinoptions (Hides the sign in options in the user accounts setting).
ShowOnly:appsfeatures (Shows only the app settings and nothing else).
ShowOnly:Network-Proxy;Network-Ethernet (Shows only the proxy and ethernet).
5. Review the Hide Example
The images below show the before and after results when applying the Hide:personalization-background text from the first example. The entire background sub-menu completely disappears from the personalization tab. Users can no longer change their wallpaper.
6. Review the ShowOnly Example
The next example shown below shows how the settings app looks when applying the ShowOnly:appsfeatures text. As you can see, the only setting that you can view is the Apps setting. Every other main category is completely stripped from the left sidebar navigation.
7. Review the Multiple Values Example
For our final example, we will enable two settings and have them be the only ones that are shown by adding ShowOnly:Network-Proxy;Network-Ethernet to the box. You can now see that only the Network category is shown with the Proxy and Ethernet categories within it. You can string multiple commands together using a semicolon.
Method 2: Using the Windows Registry Editor
1. Open the Registry Editor
If you are on Windows Home edition, you can make a quick registry edit to accomplish the same thing that the Local Group Policy Editor does. You can also use this method on Windows Pro as well. To begin, open the Windows Registry Editor by typing regedit in the taskbar search box.
2. Navigate to the Explorer Key
Then you will need to navigate to the following key. You can also just copy and paste this exact string into the top address bar.
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
3. Create the String Value
From there, you will need to create a new string value. Right-click on the Explorer key or in a blank area within the right pane and choose New > String Value. Name this new file exactly SettingsPageVisibility.
4. Input Your Custom Values
Next, you will need to double-click SettingsPageVisibility to open the edit string dialog box. Add the desired hide or show setting into the Value data field. Use the exact same syntax as the Group Policy method above.
5. Apply and Revert Changes
The changes will be instant so there is no need to restart the computer or Windows Explorer. Then you can come back to the SettingsPageVisibility and change the value as needed or remove the value to put the settings app back to its default. You can also delete the SettingsPageVisibility string value completely if you decide you do not want to hide any of the Windows settings.
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