Leftover registry keys and policies from a school account.

Question

Hi!

I previously worked with an organization and I had to add their account on my PC. The account has been disconnected but my browsers are still being managed by the organisation.

I have checked and noticed that some policies are still regulating the browsers. Also, I noticed that some registry keys from the organisation are still in my registry and I can't delete them.

How do i check and get rid of all of the leftovers from the school account?

Answer 1

These are likely leftover device management enrollment, browser policy registry keys, Group Policy settings, management software, or organizational certificates that were not removed when the school/work account was disconnected.

First check whether the PC is still registered with the organization. Open Command Prompt as administrator and run:

dsregcmd /status

If AzureAdJoined, WorkplaceJoined, or MDM information still appears, the machine still has remnants of organizational enrollment.

Then go to Settings → Accounts → Access work or school and remove every organizational account listed there and reboot.

Next inspect these registry locations using Registry Editor:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Enrollments
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Enrollments\Status
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\EnterpriseResourceManager
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager

Look for GUID-style folders or values referencing the old organization, school domain, tenant name, or MDM provider. Export anything important first, then delete the related keys.

If Windows refuses deletion because of permissions, open Command Prompt as administrator and run:

takeown /f "C:\Path\To\FileOrFolder" /r /d y

Then adjust permissions manually in Registry Editor if needed.

Most browser management comes from policy registry keys. Check these locations:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies

For Chrome :

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome

For Edge:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge

Delete policy entries that came from the organization.

You can see active browser policies directly inside the browsers.

In Chrome:

chrome://policy

In Edge:

edge://policy

After deleting registry policies, reload policies from those pages or restart the browser.

Also inspect Local Group Policy settings. Run gpedit.msc

Check both:

• Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates
• User Configuration → Administrative Templates

Anything still configured by the organization should be changed back to “Not Configured.”

You can also completely reset local policy storage by deleting these folders:

C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicy

C:\Windows\System32\GroupPolicyUsers

Then run:

gpupdate /force

Organizations often leave behind management software. Go to Settings → Apps → Installed apps

Remove anything related to device management, security enforcement, VPN, monitoring, or enterprise access. Common examples include Intune Company Portal, Workspace ONE, Zscaler, Cisco Secure Client, CrowdStrike, BeyondTrust, and similar tools.

Check scheduled tasks for management leftovers. Run taskschd.msc

Look for tasks under Microsoft, EnterpriseMgmt, or vendor-specific folders.

You can also search with PowerShell:

Get-ScheduledTask | Where-Object {$_.TaskPath -like "Enterprise"}

Delete tasks related to the old organization.

Certificates can also enforce browser trust and policies. Run certlm.msc

Inspect:

Trusted Root Certification Authorities

Intermediate Certification Authorities

Personal

Remove certificates clearly belonging to the organization if they are no longer needed.

Finally run these commands as administrator:

dsregcmd /leave
gpupdate /force

Reboot afterward.

Then verify the machine no longer appears managed by running systeminfo and ms-settings:workplace

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hth

Marcin