4 Ways to Fix Location Services Grayed Out on Windows 11

Pankil is a Civil Engineer turned freelance writer. Since his arrival at Guiding Tech in 2021, he delves into the world of how-tos, and troubleshooting guides for Android, iOS, and Windows. Besides his new-found love for mechanical keyboards, he’s a disciplined footfall fan and loves international travel with his wife.

Fix 1: Configure Geolocation Service

Geolocation Service is a small program that needs to run in the background for the location services to work. Ideally, the service should start every time your system boots. However, if that isn’t happening, location services may appear grayed out on Windows. Here’s what you can do to fix it.

Step 1:Press theWindows key + Rto open the Run dialog, typeservices.msc, and pressEnter.

Step 2:Locate and double-click onGeolocation Serviceon the list.

Step 3:Change the Startup type toAutomaticand hitApply.

If the service is not running, click on theStartbutton. After that, see if you can access location services.

Fix 2: Tweak Registry Files

You can fix the problem by modifying some registry files if the location services continue to appear grayed out. Here’s how:

Step 1:Press theWindows key + Sto open the search menu. Typeregistry editorin the box and select the first result that appears.

Step 2:In the Registry Editor window, paste the following path in the address bar at the top and pressEnter.

Step 3:Right-click on the key named3, and selectDelete.

Restart your PC for changes to take effect and see if the issue is still there.

Fix 3: Use Local Group Policy Editor

Like using the Registry Editor, you can also make changes to your PC via theLocal Group Policy Editor on Windows. For that, you must be running the Pro, Enterprise, or Education editions of the Windows operating system. If you’re using the Home edition of Windows 11, this method won’t work for you.

Step 1:Press theWindows key + Rto open the Run dialog box. Typegpedit.mscin the Open field and pressEnter.

Step 2:In the Local Group Policy Editor window, use the left pane to navigate to the following folder.

Step 3:On your right, you’ll see three policies: Turn off location scripting, Turn off location, and Turn off sensors.

Step 4:Double-click “Turn off location scripting,” selectDisabled, and hitApply.

Step 5:Disable theTurn off locationandTurn off sensorspolicies as well.

Step 6:Click on theWindows Location Providerfolder.

Step 7:Double click onTurn off Windows Location Provider.

Step 8:Select theDisabledoption and clickApply.

Restart your PC and you should be able to access location services as before.

Fix 4: Try Clean Boot

At times, third-party apps and services running on your PC can also prevent you from accessing certain Windows features. To verify this, you can boot your PC in a clean boot state.

Step 1:Press theWindows key + Rto open the Run dialog, typemsconfig.msc, and pressEnter.

Step 2:Under the Services tab, mark the box that readsHide all Microsoft servicesbox and click theDisable allbutton.

Step 3:Switch to theStartuptab and click onOpen Task Manager.

Step 4:In the Startup tab, disable all the third-party apps one by one.

Restart your PC after this to enter the clean boot state and see if you can access the location services. If this helps, you’ll need to look through any recently installedapps and programsand remove them.

To boot in normal mode again, follow the steps above to enable all Startup apps and services, and then reboot your PC.

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Last updated on 26 July, 2024

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