PowerShell "running scripts is disabled on this system": fix the execution policy safely

1. See what is set, and where

There isn’t one execution policy but five scopes, and the most specific one that is set wins:

Get-ExecutionPolicy -List

        Scope ExecutionPolicy
        ----- ---------------
MachinePolicy       Undefined
   UserPolicy       Undefined
      Process       Undefined
  CurrentUser       Undefined
 LocalMachine       Undefined

They are listed in order of priority. Undefined everywhere means the default applies, which is Restricted on a client.

2. The usual fix: RemoteSigned for your user

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser RemoteSigned

RemoteSigned runs scripts you wrote locally, and asks for a signature on scripts downloaded from the internet. -Scope CurrentUser changes only your account, so it doesn’t need an administrator prompt. This also fixes npm.ps1 cannot be loaded, yarn.ps1 cannot be loaded and the same error from other tools installed as PowerShell scripts.

For a whole machine, from an elevated prompt:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope LocalMachine RemoteSigned

3. Only this once: Process scope or -ExecutionPolicy

To leave the settings alone, change the policy just for the current window. It’s gone when you close it:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process Bypass

Or for one script, which is the usual form in scheduled tasks and installers:

powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File C:\scripts\deploy.ps1

4. “is not digitally signed” after you changed the policy

With RemoteSigned, a script you downloaded gives a different error:

File C:\Users\me\Downloads\setup.ps1 cannot be loaded. The file C:\Users\me\Downloads\setup.ps1 is not digitally signed.

Windows marked the file as coming from the internet. Read it first; if you trust it, remove the mark:

Unblock-File -Path C:\Users\me\Downloads\setup.ps1

5. “overridden by a policy defined at a more specific scope”

Set-ExecutionPolicy : Windows PowerShell updated your execution policy successfully, but the setting is overridden by a policy defined at a more specific scope.

Your setting was saved, but something with priority still wins. Get-ExecutionPolicy -List shows what. A value in MachinePolicy or UserPolicy comes from Group Policy, so on a company machine it’s your IT department’s decision. You can’t change it from PowerShell; ask them, or use a signed script.

6. PowerShell 7 has its own setting

Windows PowerShell 5.1 (powershell.exe) and PowerShell 7 (pwsh.exe) are separate programs, and setting the LocalMachine scope in one doesn’t change the other. If a fix “doesn’t work”, check which one you opened with $PSVersionTable.PSVersion. On Linux and macOS, execution policies don’t apply at all: there, it’s the file’s permissions that matter, see Permission denied when running a script.