Gpupdate command

Updated: 11/12/2023 by Computer Hope

The gpupdate command refreshes a computer's local Group Policy, and any Active Directory-based group policies.

Availability

Gpupdate is an external command and is available for the following Microsoft operating systems as gpupdate.exe.

GPUpdate [/Target:{Computer | User}] [/Force] [/Wait:<value>] [/Logoff] [/Boot] [/Sync]

/Target:{Computer \| User}	Specifies that only user or only computer policy settings be refreshed. By default, both user and computer policy settings are refreshed.
/Force	Reapplies all policy settings. By default, only policy settings that have changed are applied.
/Wait:{value}	Sets the number of seconds to wait for policy processing to finish. The default is 600 seconds. The value '0' means not to wait. The value '-1' means to wait indefinitely. When the time limit is exceeded, the command prompt returns, but policy processing continues.
/Logoff	Causes a logoff after the Group Policy settings refresh, which is required for those client-side extensions that don't process policy on a background refresh cycle but do during log on. Examples include user-targeted Software Installation and Folder Redirection. This option has no effect if there are no extensions called that require a logoff.
/Boot	Causes a reboot after the Group Policy settings are refreshed, for those client-side extensions that don't process policy on a background refresh cycle but do at startup. Examples include computer-targeted Software Installation. This option has no effect if there are no extensions called that require a reboot.
/Sync	Causes the next foreground policy application to be done synchronously. Foreground policy applications occur at computer boot and user login. Specify this for the user, computer, or both using the /Target parameter. The /Force and /Wait parameters are ignored if specified.

gpupdate

Running the command alone refreshes the computers policies as shown below in the example output.

Refreshing Policy.

User Policy Refresh has completed.
Computer Policy Refresh has completed.