gpupdate /force Is Not Working: How to Fix It?

What Is gpupdate /force?

gpupdate /force is a command line that is used to force a background update of all Group Policy settings, regardless of whether they’ve changed. It is easy to use this command to update all Group Policy settings. After you run Command Prompt as administrator, you can directly type gpupdate /force into Command Prompt and press Enter to run this command.

>> Click here to find more information about gpupdate.

What to Do if gpupdate /force Is Not Working or Failed or Stuck?

When you try to run the gpupdate /force, you may encounter different kinds of problems. For example:

• gpupdate /force is not working.
• gpupdate /force is stuck.
• gpupdate /force is not completing.
• gpupdate /force failed to apply the settings.

At the same time, you may see an error message like:

• Computer policy could not be updated successfully.
• User policy could not be updated successfully.

These issues can happen due to the following reasons:

• No GPOs are applied.
• The Registry entry is missing or not correct.
• Your system is infected by virus or malware.
• Your user profile is corrupt.
• Your computer is not connected to the domain.
• The current user account does not have sufficient privileges to run the command.

We will introduce useful solutions to fix gpupdate /force stuck or not working.

Fix 1: Delete the registry.pol file

Step 1: Press Windows + E to open File Explorer.

Step 2: Go to this path: C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy\Machine.

Step 3: Find Registry.pol, right-click it, and select Delete.

Step 4: Restart your computer.

After these steps, you can run gpupdate /force in Command Prompt again and see if the command can run successfully.

Fix 2: Run DISM and SFC Scans

Step 1: Press Windows + S to open the search box.

Step 2: Type cmd into the search box, then right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.

Step 3: Type DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth into Command Prompt and press Enter.

Step 4: Type sfc /scannow into Command Prompt and press Enter.

Step 5: Close Command Prompt and restart your computer.

After these steps, you can run gpupdate /force in Command Prompt again and see if the command can run successfully.

Best Fixes: DISM /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth Is Stuck

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Fix 3: Restart Group Policy Client

Step 1: Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog.

Step 2: Type services.msc into the Run dialog and press Enter to open Services.

Step 3: Scroll down to find Group Policy Client, right-click it, and select Properties.

Step 4: Select Automatic for Startup type.

Step 5: Click Apply.

Step 6: Click OK.

Fix 4: Create a New User Profile

If the user account you use doesn’t have the privilege to run gpupdate /force in Command Prompt as administrator, you can create a new user profile. Then, you need to assign administrative privileges to the newly created user profile.

Fix 5: Reset Group Policy

Step 1: Use the method mentioned in Fix 2 to run Command Prompt as administrator.

Step 2: Run the following commands one by one:

• RD /S /Q “%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicyUsers” && RD /S /Q
• “%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicy”
• gpupdate /force

Step 3: Restart your computer.

Bottom Line

Those are the methods to fix gpupdate /force is not working, gpupdate /force stuck, gpupdate /force is not completing, or gpupdate /force failed to apply the settings. We hope you can find a proper method to help you solve the problem. Should you have other related issues that need to be fixed, you can let us know in the comments.