How can I prevent users from creating new tasks in task scheduler? There is a group policy named “Task Scheduler – Prohibit New Task Creation“, but it works with Windows 2003/XP only.

In this tutorial we’ll show you a proven way to prevent creating new scheduled tasks from either Task Scheduler or Command Prompt in Windows 11.

Part 1: Prevent Creating New Scheduled Tasks in Windows 11

1. Right-click the Start button from the taskbar, and then choose “Windows Terminal (Admin)“.

   

2. If Windows Terminal opens with a PowerShell prompt, click the downward arrow in the title bar, and select Command Prompt.

   

3. At the elevated Command Prompt, run the following commands to change permissions of the folder “C:\Windows\System32\Tasks” and grant read & execute rights to Authenticated Users only.
   cacls C:\Windows\System32\Tasks /P "Authenticated Users":R

   

4. From now on, nobody can create a new task using Task Scheduler or elevated Command Prompt.

   

Part 2: Restore Ability to Create New Scheduled Tasks in Windows 11

Whenever you need to allow users to create new tasks again, follow these steps:

1. Open an elevated Command Prompt, run this command to take ownership of the directory “C:\Windows\System32\Tasks“.
   takeown /f C:\Windows\System32\Tasks /r

   

2. Next, execute these commands to reset the folder permissions to defaults, and change ownership back.
   icacls C:\Windows\System32\Tasks /reset /T /Q /C
icacls C:\Windows\System32\Tasks /setowner "System" /t

   

3. When done, users can create new tasks from either Task Scheduler or elevated Command Prompt.

That’s it!

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