Share via

Block Inheritance

  • Article

Applies To: Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012

You can block inheritance for a domain or organizational unit. Blocking inheritance prevents Group Policy objects (GPOs) that are linked to higher sites, domains, or organizational units from being automatically inherited by the child-level.

To block inheritance

  1. In the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) console tree, double-click the forest containing the domain or organizational unit (OU) for which you want to block inheritance for GPO links, and then do one of the following:

    • To block inheritance of the GPO links of an entire domain, double-click Domains , and then right-click the domain.

    • To block inheritance for an OU, double-click Domains , double-click the domain containing the OU, and then right-click the OU.

  2. Click Block Inheritance .

Additional considerations

  • To complete this procedure, you must have Link GPOs permission for the domain or OU.

  • If a domain or OU is set to block inheritance, it will appear with a blue exclamation mark in the console tree.

  • GPO links that are enforced cannot be blocked from the parent container.

Additional reference