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Troubleshooting

Solutions to the situations users run into most often. Each section names the symptom, the likely cause, and what to do.

A change or delete is refused​

Cause: you do not have permission to modify that key. This is common under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and other protected areas.

  1. Start O&O RegEditor with administrator rights.
  2. Check the key's permissions and adjust them if appropriate – see Manage permissions.

A setting has no effect​

Cause: the value has the wrong name or type, or the application has not read it yet.

  1. Confirm the value has the exact name and type the application expects. A setting stored as the wrong type is often ignored. See Value types.
  2. Some settings are read only when the application or Windows starts. Restart the affected program, sign out and back in, or restart the computer.

Importing a .reg file reports an error​

Cause: the file is not a valid Windows registry file, or a line is damaged.

  1. The error message names the line that could not be interpreted; open the file in a text editor and check that line.
  2. Check that the file really is a .reg file and has not been altered so that its structure is broken.

See Import.

Dark mode does not apply​

Cause: full dark-mode support requires Windows 10 version 1809 or later. On earlier versions the light theme is always used. See Appearance.

The interface language did not change​

Cause: changing the language takes full effect only after the program restarts. Accept the restart prompt, or close and reopen O&O RegEditor. See Language.

Search returns too many or too few results​

  • Too many: select a more specific key before searching so the scope is smaller, and enable Whole word or Match case to narrow matches. See Find data.
  • Too few: check that the right scope boxes (Keys, Values, Data) are enabled, and that Match case is not excluding results you expected.

A setting in the configuration file did not stick​

Cause: the file was edited while O&O RegEditor was running. The program writes the file as it runs and on exit, so changes made while it is open can be overwritten.

Edit the configuration file only while O&O RegEditor is closed. See Settings reference.

Still stuck?​

Contact O&O Software support – see Support and more from O&O.