Disabling GPO links

Instead of deleting GPO links, the option also exists to disable those GPO links. In most cases, this is a smarter approach. Perhaps you run into a case where an existing GPO is pushing some settings into place, and you now have a need to adjust those settings. You could delete all of the GPO links to make sure it is no longer applying to your computers, then modify and test the GPO, and then re-link it to all of the locations. But what if you forget where they are linked? I hope you documented them all.

Instead, we can simply right-click on a GPO link and uncheck the option for Link Enabled. As expected, this sets the link into a Disabled state, so the GPO will no longer apply to that linked location. Later, when you have made your changes and are ready for the newly improved GPO to make its appearance, you simply find your existing links, right-click on them again, and re-select the Link Enabled option to put them back into action.

When you disable a link, it is a little bit difficult to identify the fact that it is disabled. The image for the link does turn a bit of a grey color, but you can hardly tell the difference on most monitors. So, instead, to get a quick feel for whether a GPO link is enabled or disabled, you could right-click on it and reverse-engineer whether or not the Link Enabled checkbox is present, or you could left-click on the GPO link itself and take a look inside the Scope tab. You will see a field called Link Enabled and it will display Yes or No: