Disable AutoRun and AutoPlay for External Devices

There's no interface setting to turn off AutoRun completely. Instead, you'll edit the Windows Registry.

1. 1. Press Win+R and type regedit to launch the Registry Editor. You must confirm elevated privileges to modify registry settings.

2. 2. Go to the key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

   

3. 3. If the entry NoDriveTypeAutoRun does not appear, create a new DWORD value by right-clicking in the right pane to access the context menu and selecting New DWORD (32-bit) Value.

4. 4. Name the DWORD NoDriveTypeAutoRun, and set its value to one of the following:

   • FF to disable AutoRun on all drives.
   • 20 to disable AutoRun on CD-ROM drives.
   • 4 to disable AutoRun on removable drives.
   • 8 to disable AutoRun on fixed drives.
   • 10 to disable AutoRun on network drives.
   • 40 to disable AutoRun on RAM disks.
   • 1 to disable AutoRun on unknown drives.

   

5. To turn AutoRun back on, delete the DWORD NoDriveTypeAutoRun value.

Disable AutoPlay in Windows 

You can disable AutoPlay in a few steps, but the process depends on your Windows version.

WINDOWS 10

1. 1. Select the Start icon in the lower-left corner, then select the Settings icon in the left pane.

   

2. 2. Select Devices.

   

3. 3. Select AutoPlay from the left pane, then select the AutoPlay toggle to turn it Off.

   

WINDOWS 8

In Windows 8 and 8.1:

1. 1. On the Start screen, select Apps > Windows System.

2. 2. Open the Control Panel and select AutoPlay.

3. 3. In the Choose what happens when you insert each type of media or device section, select the option you want. For example, you can choose different options for pictures or videos. To completely disable AutoPlay, deselect the Use AutoPlay for all media and devices box.