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Windows Snipping Tool is an integrated utility found in Microsoft Windows 10/11 operating systems, designed for users to conveniently capture screenshots or snips of their desktop or specific screen areas.
This screen capture tool proves invaluable for swiftly grabbing crucial information displayed on the desktop. Moreover, it offers different methods for capturing images to suit your preferences.
The Windows Snipping Tool has evolved, introducing new and exciting features such as delayed screenshot capture and video snipping. However, numerous third-party screen capture tools offer more advanced capabilities for capturing screenshots and videos, with TechSmith’s Snagit and Greenshot as a few examples.
You can easily Remove/Uninstall the Snipping tool from your Windows 10/11 device, but instead of removing it, you could also disable it so that users cannot launch it and get the error below. This blog post will show multiple ways to disable the Snipping tool on Windows 10/11 devices.
Windows cannot open this program because it has been prevented by a software restriction policy. For more information, please contact your system administrator.
In recent blog posts, I have created step-by-step guide on how to disable Microsoft Edge Workspace and Windows Copilot. You can refer to below URLs to read more more details about it.
Disable Microsoft Edge Workspace and Windows Copilot
Method 1 – Disable Snipping tool Using Applocker
You can easily disable the Snipping tool on users devices by creating a deny Applocker rule for the Snipping tool app.
Please note that the below rule will set up an AppLocker rule for just one device. If you want to deploy AppLocker across multiple devices, refer to my other blog post, How to Implement AppLocker using Intune. This way, you could deny the Snipping tool across all devices in your organization.
- Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog box.
- Type
secpol.mscPress Enter to open the Local Security Policy console. - Go to Application Control Policies > Packaged app Rules
- Click on Next Before you begin the screen.
- On the Permissions screen, select Action = Deny and User or group = Everyone to deny launching the Snipping tool for anyone who will sign in on this computer.
- Select the radio button Use an installed packaged app as a reference and click the Select button.
- Select Snipping Tool from the list of apps and then press OK button to continue.
- As you can see in the screenshot below, the Snipping Tool application information is extracted automatically. Move the slider one step up to generalize the application version. Click on Next to proceed.
- On the Exceptions screen, Click on the Next button.
- On the Name screen, you can keep the default Name or provide a new name for the rule. I will keep the default name for now.
End-User Experience
We’ve created a Deny rule specifically for the Snipping Tool application. However, we also made it applicable to all versions of the app. This means that regardless of any future upgrades to the app, the Applocker Deny rule will continue to be enforced.
When a user launches the Snipping tool on the device, the below pop-up message will be shown. This app has been blocked by your system administrator. Contact your system administrator for more info.
Method 2 – Disable Snipping tool Using Intune
If you manage Windows 10/11 devices using Microsoft Intune, you can create a device configuration profile and use the Settings Catalog policy setting Do not allow Snipping Tool to run. Then, this setting can be deployed on Windows devices via an Entra security group.
After you select the policy setting, it will be added to the Configuration settings page. Use the toggle switch to Enable this policy. Enabling this policy setting will disable the Snipping tool on the target devices.
Method 3 – Disable Snipping tool Using Group Policy
If you manage Windows 10/11 devices using On-prem Active Directory or Hybrid Azure AD, you can use a Group Policy Object (GPO) to stop the Snipping Tool from running on those devices. Let’s see how to do it:
If your device is not managed by Active directory and is a part of Workgroup instead. You can also open Local group policy editor (gpedit.msc) on your Windows 10/11 device. The steps for Local group policy editor and Active directory group policy management console (gpmc.msc) will remain the same.
Note
- Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog box.
- Type
gpedit.mscfor opening Local group policy editor. If you are creating this policy on an Active directory domain controller, you can open the Group policy management console usinggpmc.msc.
- Go to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Tablet PC -> Accessories. On the right-hand side, Find the policy setting “Do not allow Snipping Tool to run“.
- Double-click the policy setting. Do not allow the Snipping Tool to run and Set it to Enabled.
- Link this GPO to an OU containing computers.
- Please note that a restart of the target device will be necessary for the policy changes to become active.
FAQs
I want to Remove/Uninstall Snipping tool Instead of disabling it.
If you want to completely uninstall the Snipping Tool rather than just disable it, I’ve put together a user-friendly guide with step-by-step instructions. It can be found at the following URL: 3 Ways to Remove/Uninstall Snipping Tool in Windows 11.
Snipping tool is already disabled on my device, How to Enable it?
If you’ve previously disabled the Snipping Tool on your device and wish to re-enable it, you’ll need to reverse the changes that blocked it.
These changes could have been implemented through Intune, group policy settings, or manual configurations. You might need to contact your IT administrator for assistance in such cases.
If you want to re-install the Snipping tool, this step-by-step guide will help you regain the Snipping tool on your device. 3 Ways to Remove/Uninstall Snipping Tool in Windows 11.
