One of the most common ways to access transfer data is using external drives. Almost all computers have support for USB ports that allow users to access external storage options such as flash drives and external hard drives.
While it remains one of the most popular forms of data transferring, there may be a scenario where you want to limit access to the removable drives on the computer. In that case, here is a step-by-step guide explaining how to do so in Windows 10.
For this, we will be using the Local Group Policy Editor and change the policy settings that will deny access to removable storages on the computer. This will essentially put the PC in lock-down mode as users cannot import or export any type of data from the computer using removable storage.
Disable remove storage access in Windows 10
Step 1: Open the Local Group Policy Editor on your computer. For this, click on the Start Menu and search for “gpedit.msc” and click on the app from the search results.
Step 2: In the Local Group Policy Editor window, browse to the following location
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Removable Storage Access
Step 3: On the right-hand side window, open the “All Removable Storage classes: Deny all access” policy.
Step 4: In the window that opens, select the option “Enabled” and then click the OK button to save the settings.
Step 5: After all that is done, just restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
Now, you will notice that whenever you try to access any types of external or removable storage — USB flash drives, external hard drives, or even physical discs such as CD and DVD, Windows 10 will deny access to them.
You can check out our other guides to make your experience even better by customizing the OS and software as per your needs, along with tips and tricks. We have covered quite a few topics, including macOS, and Chromebook.
