Tweaking Registry for Internet Explorer
Behaviour of Internet Explorer can be modified by Registry Tweaks. Let’s take the Internet Settings first.
This is the dialog Box which opens when you select “Internet Options…” under “Tools” menu item in Internet Explorer or by Opening “Internet Options” from Control Panel.
Open Regedit and browse through to the key as below (or create if doesnot exist)
HKEY_CURRENT_USERS\\Software\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Internet Explorer\\Control Panel
Creating a DWORD valuename (names as below) and setting its value to 1 will hide the corresponding Tabs in the Dialog Box
| ValueName | Description |
|---|---|
| GeneralTab | Disable viewing the General page |
| SecurityTab | Disable viewing the Security page |
| PrivacyTab | Disable viewing the Privacy page |
| ContentTab | Disable viewing the Content page |
| ConnectionsTab | Disable viewing the Connections page |
| ProgramsTab | Disable viewing the Programs page |
| AdvancedTab | Disable viewing the Advanced page |
To regain the original settings either set 0 for above valuenames or delete them.
The individual items under the above pages can also be restricted by creating a DWORD valuename (names as below) and setting its value to 1
| ValueName | Description |
|---|---|
| History | Prevents users from changing the history settings for the browser. |
| Colors | Prevents users from changing the default Web page colors. |
| Links | Prevents users from changing the colors of links on Web pages. |
| Fonts | Prevents users from changing font settings. |
| Languages | Prevents users from changing language settings. |
| Accessibility | Prevents users from changing accessibility settings. |
| Settings | Disable changing any settings on the General page |
| HomePage | Disable changing HomePage on the General page |
| Advanced | Disable changing any settings on the Advanced page. |
The menubar displayed on the browser window too can be modified. Browse to the key as below (or create if doesnot exist)
HKEY_CURRENT_USERS\\Software\\Policies\\Microsoft\\Internet Explorer\\Restrictions
Creating a DWORD valuename (names as below) and setting its value to 1 will hide the corresponding menu items
| ValueName | Description |
|---|---|
| NoBrowserSaveAs | File menu: Disable Save As… menu option |
| NoFileNew | File menu: Disable New menu option |
| NoFileOpen | File menu: Disable Open menu option |
| NoBrowserClose | File menu: Disable closing the browser and Explorer windows |
| NoViewSource | View menu: Disable Source menu option |
| NoTheaterMode | View menu: Disable Full Screen menu option |
| NoFavorites | Hide Favorites menu |
| NoBrowserOptions | Tools menu: Disable Internet Options… menu option |
| NoHelpItemTipOfTheDay | Help menu: Remove ‘Tip of the Day’ menu option |
| NoHelpItemNetscapeHelp | Help menu: Remove ‘For Netscape Users’ menu option |
| NoHelpItemTutorial | Help menu: Remove ‘Tour’ menu option |
| NoHelpItemSendFeedback | Help menu: Remove ‘Send Feedback’ menu option |
| NoBrowserContextMenu | Disable Context menu (right click) |
| NoOpeninNewWnd | Disable Open in New Window menu option |
| NoSelectDownloadDir | Disable Save this program to disk option |
The toolbar displayed on the browser window too can be modified. Browse to the key as below (or create if doesnot exist)
HKEY_CURRENT_USERS\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Policies\\Explorer
Create a DWORD valuename SpecifyDefaultButtons and set its value to 1. This has to be added once followed by tweaks as below.
Creating a DWORD valuename (names as below) and setting its value to 2 will hide the corresponding toolbar items. For showing the items, you will either require to change values to 1 or delete the valuename.
| ValueName | Description |
|---|---|
| Btn_Back | Hide Back button |
| Btn_Forward | Hide Forward button |
| Btn_Stop | Hide Stop button |
| Btn_Refresh | Hide Refresh button |
| Btn_Home | Hide Home button |
| Btn_Search | Hide Search button |
| Btn_History | Hide History button |
| Btn_Favorites | Hide Favorites button |
| Btn_Folders | Hide Folders button |
| Btn_Fullscreen | Hide Fullscreen button |
| Btn_Tools | Hide Tools button |
| Btn_MailNews | Hide Mail button |
| Btn_Size | Hide size button |
| Btn_Print | Hide Print button |
| Btn_Edit | Hide Edit button |
| Btn_Discussions | Hide Discussions button |
| Btn_Cut | Hide Cut button |
| Btn_Copy | Hide Copy button |
| Btn_Paste | Hide Paste button |
| Btn_Encoding | Hide Encoding button |
I do in upper and i don’t hide copy button
Comment by zofeus — March 2, 2007 @ 3:44 am
Hi, I did as the instruction above, but it didn’t hide my print button at IE toolbar. Can you advise? It’s urgent. Thanks in advance!
Comment by forest — March 6, 2007 @ 1:52 am
Before tweaking registry for hiding toolbar buttons do as below.
Create a DWORD valuename SpecifyDefaultButtons and set its value to 1.
This missing step was preventing the tweak to perform well and I have also updated this on the post marked in Red
Comment by Jalaj — March 6, 2007 @ 7:52 am
Crystal clear! Thanks very much for sharing your wealth of knowledge.
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Hi,
I would like to be able to prevent my IE history from being deleted. Can you tell me exactly how I would do this (Not understanding where the “DWORD” fits in). I would also appreciate it if you can tell me how to remove the reg edit and allow it to be deleted again.
Comment by Roxanne — November 8, 2007 @ 12:39 pm
Is there a way to disable Javascript using the registry
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Hi, you have told that to hide a history button create a dword btn_hostory, but where i have to create in regestry, please len me knwo
Comment by srinivas — December 23, 2007 @ 7:32 am
Hi, you have told that to hide a history button create a dword btn_hostory, but where i have to create in regestry, please len me know.
Comment by srinivas — December 23, 2007 @ 7:35 am
I have done as instructed above to hide IE toolbar buttons: specifydefaultbuttons = 1, btn_mailnews = 2. Doing this still does not remove the button from the toolbar. Is there anything else that could be preventing it from working. Thanks.
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I use firefox, so I don’t worry too much about this kind of thing. I do appreciate the time it took to put this together though, and it’s nice to see good registry tweaks.
Comment by Winning Ponies — February 8, 2008 @ 9:17 pm
Unfortunately Firefox do not have muck registry tweaks otherwise I would have liked to feature them too.
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I am attempting to hide the History button in IE7, XP Home. However, in my registry I don’t have the HKEY_CURRENT_USERS, but instead the HKEY_CURRENT_USER. Assuming these may be the same thing, I modified as per your suggestion but it doesn’t seem to hide my button. Below is what my registry looks like. Am I doing this correctly? Is this something I can do with XP Home?
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
“NoDriveTypeAutoRun”=dword:00000091
“SpecifyDefaultButtons”=dword:00000001
“Btn_History”=dword:00000002
Thank you kindly
Comment by Chuck — May 8, 2008 @ 7:58 am