Enable or disable File Sharing with Group Policy
Applies To: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 7
You can use this procedure to enable or disable a user's ability to share files within his or her profile.
A member of the Administrators or Network Configuration Operators group can enable or disable network sharing. This Group Policy setting affects only the users or groups to which it is applied, and prevents that user or group from sharing their folders even if folder sharing is enabled at the computer level.
By default, this setting is not configured. If you enable this setting, users will not be able to share files within their profile.
Membership in the local Administrators group, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure.
To enable or disable file sharing for a user or group by using Group Policy
Start Group Policy Management Console (GPMC). To do so, click Start, and then in the Start Search box, type
gpmc.msc.In the navigation pane, open the following folders: Local Computer Policy, User Configuration, Administrative Templates, Windows Components, and Network Sharing.
In the details pane, double-click Prevent users from sharing files within their profile.
Do one of the following:
To enable the Group Policy setting, and disable the user's ability to share files, click Enabled.
To disable the Group Policy setting, and enable the user's ability to share files, click Disabled.
Click OK to save your changes.
Additional considerations
- If you edit policy settings locally on a computer, you will affect the settings on only that one computer. If you configure the settings in a Group Policy object (GPO) hosted in an Active Directory domain, then the settings apply to all computers that are subject to that GPO. For more information about Group Policy in an Active Directory domain, see Group Policy (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=55625).
See Also
Concepts
Configure Network and Sharing Center for a Managed Network
Administer Network and Sharing Center