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This tutorial shows you how to Add, Change or Delete Registry Keys on windows 11/10. On a Windows computer, the Registry is used to store important information about how the Operating System is set up. In the same way, it also stores information about the apps that you have on your system.
Many hardware and software parts, like drivers, services, and kernels, use these data to make sure that the programs they are connected to work well. But if a lot of this data builds up over time, it could interfere with the way that app or even the OS as a whole works. You may need to make changes to the Windows Registry to fix hardware or software problems on your computer.
In Windows 11/10, you might want to add a registry key, change a registry value, remove a registry key, etc. This tutorial shows in detail how to create, change, or delete a Windows 11/10 registry key. Before you Add, Change or Delete registry keys, you should make a copy of the whole database.
HOW TO ADD REGISTRY KEYS ON WINDOWS 10/11
Adding a new registry key or a group of registry values at random probably won’t hurt anything, but it probably won’t help you much either. But there are a few times when you might need to add a registry value or even a new registry key to the Windows Registry. This is usually to turn on a feature or fix a problem.
- Execute regedit to start Registry Editor. Open Registry Editor if you need help.
- On the left side of the editor, navigate to the registry key you want to add another key to, usually referred to as a subkey, or the key you want to add a value to.
- Once you’ve located the registry key you want to add to, you can add the key or value you want to add:
- If you’re creating a new registry key, right-click or tap-and-hold on the key it should exist under and choose New > Key. Name the new registry key and then press Enter.
- If you’re creating a new registry value, right-click or tap-and-hold on the key it should exist within and choose New, followed by the type of value you want to create. Name the value, press Enter to confirm, and then open the newly created value and set the Value data it should have.
- Close the open Registry Editor window.
- Restart your computer, unless you’re sure the new keys and/or values you’ve added won’t need a restart to do whatever it is they’re supposed to do. Just do it if you’re not sure.
HOW TO CHANGE REGISTRY KEYS ON WINDOWS 10/11
As you read above, adding a new key or value that doesn’t do anything usually doesn’t cause a problem. However, renaming an existing registry key or changing the value of an existing value will do something. We hope that’s what you’re looking for, but we want to stress that you should be very careful when making changes to parts of the registry that are already there.
Those keys and values are already there, probably for a good reason, so make sure that the advice that got you to this point is as accurate as possible. Here’s how to make different kinds of changes to existing keys and values in the Windows Registry, as long as you’re careful:
- Execute regedit to start Registry Editor. Anywhere you have command line access will work fine.
- On the left side of Registry Editor, locate the key you want to rename or the key that contains the value you want to change in some way.
- Once you’ve located the part of the registry you want to make changes to, you can actually make those changes:
- To rename a registry key, right-click or tap-and-hold on the key and choose Rename. Give the registry key a new name and then press Enter.
- To rename a registry value, right-click or tap-and-hold on the value on the right and choose Rename. Give the registry value a new name and then press Enter.
- To change a value’s data, right-click or tap-and-hold on the value on the right and choose Modify…. Assign a new Value data and then confirm with the OK button.
- Close Registry Editor if you’re done making changes.
- Restart your computer. Most changes to the registry, especially those that impact the operating system or its dependent parts, won’t take effect until you’ve restarted your computer, or at least signed out and then back into Windows.
How to Delete Registry Keys on windows 10/11
Even though it sounds mad, you might need to delete a registry key or value sometimes. This is usually to fix a problem caused by a program that added a key or value it shouldn’t have. You can also go to the official Microsoft support site to know more information about this.
UpperFilters and LowerFilters values are the first thing that comes to mind. When these two registry values are in a very specific key, they are often the cause of some of the errors you might see in Device Manager. To remove a key or value from the Windows Registry, don’t forget to back up and then follow these steps exactly:
- Start Registry Editor by executing regedit from any command-line area in Windows.
- From the left pane in Registry Editor, drill down until you locate the registry key you want to delete or the key that contains the registry value you want to remove.
- Once found, right-click or tap-and-hold on it and choose Delete.
- Next, you’ll be asked to confirm the key or value deletion request, with either a Confirm Key Delete or Confirm Value Delete message, respectively.
- Whatever the message, select Yes to delete the key or value.
- Restart your computer. The kind of thing that benefits from a value or key removal is usually the kind of thing that requires a PC restart to take effect.