What Is a Registry Hive? GA S REGULAR Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO Software & Apps > Windows 65 65 people found this article helpful

What Is a Registry Hive?

Definition of a Registry Hive & Examples of Different Registry Hives

By Tim Fisher Tim Fisher Senior Vice President & Group General Manager, Tech & Sustainability Emporia State University Tim Fisher has more than 30 years' of professional technology experience. He's been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the VP and General Manager of Lifewire. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on July 15, 2022 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Windows The Ultimate Laptop Buying Guide A hive in the Windows Registry is the name given to a major section of the registry that contains registry keys, registry subkeys, and registry values.
All keys that are considered hives begin with "HKEY" and are at the root, or the top of the hierarchy in the registry, which is why they're also sometimes called root keys or core system hives. To use a more common term, a hive is like a starting folder in the registry. Everything in the registry is ultimately contained in various hives.

Where Are the Registry Hives Located

In Registry Editor, the hives are the set of registry keys that appear as folders on the left-hand side of the screen when all other keys have been minimized. Here is a list of the common registry hives in Windows: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT HKEY_CURRENT_USER HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE HKEY_USERS HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG Registry Hives (Windows 10). HKEY_DYN_DATA is a registry hive that was used in Windows ME, 98, and 95. Most of the information stored in that hive is stored in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE in later versions of Windows.

Why Can' t I See Any Registry Hives

Sometimes, when you open Registry Editor, you'll see lots and lots of folders on the left side, and maybe even registry values on the right side, but not any registry hives. This just means they're out of the normal viewing area. To see all the registry hives at once, scroll to the very top of the left side of the Registry Editor and collapse all the hives, either by selecting the down arrows or choosing Collapse from the right-click menu. Either way, this will minimize all the keys and subkeys so you just see the handful of registry hives listed above. Another reason some registry hives aren't showing up is if you're viewing the registry remotely from a different computer.

Registry Hive vs Registry Key

A registry hive is a folder in the Windows Registry, but so is a registry key. So what exactly is the difference between a registry hive and registry key? The only difference between the two is that a registry hive is the first folder in the registry, and it contains registry keys, whereas the registry keys are the folders inside the hives that contain registry values and other registry keys. Naming a folder in the registry a "registry hive" is only done to further categorize what it is that we're talking about. Instead of calling every folder in the registry a registry hive or a registry key, we call the major, first folder a hive but use key as the name of every other folder inside the hives, and registry subkeys as the term for keys that exist within other keys.

A Registry Hive in Context

Here is an easy way to understand where a registry hive belongs in the Windows Registry:
HIVE\KEY\SUBKEY\SUBKEY\...\...\VALUE As you can see in the example below, while there may be multiple registry subkeys below a hive, there's always only just one registry hive within each location.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\Colors\Menu HIVE: HKEY_CURRENT_USERKEY: Control PanelSUBKEY: DesktopSUBKEY: ColorsVALUE: Menu

Editing and Deleting Registry Hives

Registry hives, unlike keys and values, can't be created, deleted, or renamed. Registry Editor won't let you, meaning you can't even accidentally edit one. Being unable to remove registry hives isn't Microsoft keeping you from doing something amazing with your own computer—there's simply no reason you'd ever want to. The keys and values that comprise all the registry hives are where the real value of the Windows Registry is. You can, however, add, change, and delete keys and values in the registry. You need to access the hives to do any of that, but the hives themselves are unchangeable.

Backing Up Registry Hives

You can, however, back up registry hives, just like you can registry keys. Backing up an entire hive saves all the keys and values within that hive as a REG file that can then be imported back into the Windows Registry at a later time. See How to Back Up the Windows Registry, and the accompanying How to Restore the Windows Registry, for more. FAQ Where is the registry hive in Windows 10? The registry files are usually located in C:\Windows\System32\Config. You can't make changes to the files in this location, however. If you need to edit the registry, open the Registry Editor to make any changes. Why is it called a registry hive? One of the original Windows NT developers didn't like bees, so as a jest, another developer responsible for the registry added as many bee references as possible. Part of this funny jab included naming the location of registry data as 'cells.' Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire What Is a Registry Value? How to Remove Write Protection on a Micro SD Card What Is a Registry Key? (Definition of Registry Key) How to Back up the Windows Registry HKEY_CURRENT_USER (HKCU Registry Hive) What Is HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE? How to Restore the Registry (Windows 11, 10, 8, 7...) HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT (HKCR CLSID) Windows Registry (What It Is and How to Use It) How to Delete the UpperFilters and LowerFilters Values HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG (HKCC Registry Hive) How to Stop the Automatic Installation of Suggested Windows 11 Apps How to Open Registry Editor in Windows How to Remove Write Protection on Windows 10, 8, and 7 How to Add, Change, & Delete Registry Keys & Values 28 Best Free Registry Cleaner Programs (October 2022) Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies