How exercise I open and edit the Windows registry?

Updated: 12/05/2021 by Computer Hope

Fixing Windows errors, tweaking Windows features, or completely removing a program can sometimes require you to edit the Windows registry. This page provides help with opening and viewing the Windows registry, editing, and deleting registry values.

How to open the Windows registry

To open the Windows registry, follow the steps below for your version of Windows.

Annotation

If you take restricted admission to the Windows calculator you're logged in to, you may non be able to admission the Windows registry.

Windows 11

  1. On the Windows taskbar, click the magnifying drinking glass icon.

Search icon on Windows 11 taskbar

  1. In the text field at the meridian of the search window, type regedit and press Enter.
  2. If prompted by User Account Control, click Yes to open the Registry Editor.
  3. The Windows Registry Editor window should open and wait similar to the example shown below.

Microsoft Windows 11 Registry Editor

Windows x

  1. Type regedit in the Windows search box on the taskbar and press Enter.
  2. If prompted by User Business relationship Control, click Yes to open the Registry Editor.
  3. The Windows Registry Editor window should open up and await similar to the case shown below.

Microsoft Windows 10 Registry Editor

Windows 8

  1. Blazon regedit on the Starting time screen and select the regedit option in the search results.
  2. If prompted by User Business relationship Control, click Yes to open up the Registry Editor.
  3. The Windows Registry Editor window should open and look like to the instance shown below.

Microsoft Windows 8 Registry Editor

Windows vii and earlier

  1. Click Start or press the Windows central.
  2. In the Offset menu, either in the Run box or the Search box, type regedit and press Enter. In Windows 8, you can type regedit on the First screen and select the regedit selection in the search results. In Windows 10, type regedit in the Search box on the taskbar and press Enter.
  3. If prompted by User Account Control, click Aye to open up the Registry Editor.
  4. The Windows Registry Editor window should open and wait similar to the example shown below.

Microsoft Windows 7 and earlier Registry Editor

How to browse the Windows registry

When most users edit their registry, they're given the location or path of where the registry value is located and what to change. Beneath is an example path for a commonly accessed registry subkey. To browse this location, you showtime offset by opening the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE key (binder). In this key, yous see the SOFTWARE folder, then Microsoft, Windows, CurrentVersion, and finally the Run folder.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Tip

Each backslash ("\") in a registry path represents another binder in the registry, with the proper noun of that binder following the backslash.

After navigating to the registry path above, y'all see a window like to the example below. In this example, you lot can see four different string value keys, which signal to the programs that run each time the calculator is turned on or restarted.

Windows registry edit screen

How to edit a Windows registry value

To edit a registry value, double-click the proper name of the value you want to edit. For example, if we double-click the 'IntelliPoint' value in the instance above, a new window appears that would allow us to change the data value. In this case, we could change the file path of where the "ipoint.exe" file is located for the IntelliPoint driver.

How to delete a Windows registry value

To delete a registry value, highlight any registry Name and press the Del key on the keyboard. For case, if we did not want the IntelliPoint plan to load each time Windows starts, we could highlight IntelliPoint and press Del.

Windows registry shorthand and abbreviations

In some documentation and online forums, the registry values may exist abbreviated. For case, instead of saying "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE," it is easier to say and write "HKLM." For a listing of registry terms and shorthand, encounter our registry definition.