Group Policy, the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC), and Internet Explorer 11

Caution

Update: The retired, out-of-support Internet Explorer 11 desktop application has been permanently disabled through a Microsoft Edge update on certain versions of Windows 10. For more information, see Internet Explorer 11 desktop app retirement FAQ.

A Microsoft Management Console (MMC)-based tool that uses scriptable interfaces to manage Group Policy. The 32-bit and 64-bit versions are included with Windows Server R2 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) and Windows Server 2012 R2.

Why use the GPMC?

The GPMC lets you:

  • Import, export, copy, paste, backup and restore GPOs.

  • Search for existing GPOs.

  • Create reports, including providing the Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP) data in HTML reports that you can save and print.

  • Use simulated RSoP data to prototype your Group Policy before implementing it in the production environment.

  • Obtain RSoP data to view your GPO interactions and to troubleshoot your Group Policy deployment.

  • Create migration tables to let you import and copy GPOs across domains and across forests. Migration tables are files that map references to users, groups, computers, and Universal Naming Convention (UNC) paths in the source GPO to new values in the destination GPO.

  • Create scriptable interfaces to support all of the operations available within the GPMC. You can't use scripts to edit individual policy settings in a GPO.

For more information about the GPMC, see Group Policy Management Console on TechNet.

Searching for Group Policy settings

To search for Group Policy settings in the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC), use the Group Policy Search tool. To find the Group Policy settings, click Windows Components, and then click Internet Explorer.