Group Policy FAQ -4

4. How can I configure Group Policy Refresh?

Group Policy Objects apply at Computer Start-up and User Logon (known as foreground Refresh). In addition to this, Group Policy Client Site Extension (CSEs) also applies in the background at default intervals, so in most cases there is no need to wait for reboots or user logoffs to apply new settings.

Group Policy Refresh is configurable using the Group Policy Management Console/Group Policy Editor. The Group Policy settings are stored in Computer Configuration/Administrative Templates/System/Group Policy. You can adjust the interval in which clients apply GPO and what is applied during the refresh.

The Group Policy refresh interval is fully configurable for Computers and Domain Controllers, a default value is set to 90 minutes for Computers and 5 minutes for Domain Controllers.

  • To adjust this setting on computers (anything other than Domain Controllers) open the GPMC and edit the Group Policy Object that will be applied to all client objects. Open the path mentioned above and change the Group Policy refresh interval for computers.
  • To adjust this setting on Domain Controllers open the GPMC and edit the Default Domain Controllers Policy (this is a standard GPO). Open the path mentioned above and change the Group Policy refresh interval for Domain Controllers.


You should take into consideration the overhead this will have on the network and other infrastructure by reducing this refresh interval. For example reducing the refresh interval to every few minutes will have an impact on your infrastructure as the client has to contact a domain controller each time a Group Policy Refresh is triggered. So far, we found no reason to alter the default settings.

You can also turn off background processing altogether using the Turn off background refresh of Group Policy. This could be helpful in situations where enforcing settings in the background may interrupt or affect a running application, in this case you might only want to enforce policy settings when the computer restarts and the user logs on.

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