How to Disable Login Screen on Windows

Windows sends you to the login screen after starting your PC or waking it up if your user account includes a password. However, there are a few scenarios where you want to disable this screen altogether.

For instance, you may need to put the computer to sleep or restart the computer several times a day and find it tedious to have to enter your password time and again. It is possible to disable this screen by removing your password.

However, if you disable the screen on the initial startup, you leave your computer vulnerable to external access. So, it might be worth just disabling it during wake-ups from sleep. Regardless, we have mentioned various ways to perform both operations in this article.

How to Disable Login Screen on Initial Boot?

There are mainly two ways through which you can disable the login screen during the initial boot. You can either use the Netplwiz utility or change some registry entries.

From Netplwiz

The easiest way to disable the login screen after powering up your computer is through the Netplwiz tool. In the later Windows, the option is hidden by default. So, first, you need to modify a certain registry entry. Here is the complete process:

1. Open Run by pressing Win + R.
2. Type regedit and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
3. Navigate to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\PasswordLess\Device
4. See if DevicePasswordlessBuildVersion shows the value 0.
   
5. If it doesn’t, double-click on the entry, set the Value data to 0, and click OK.
6. Then, open Run again.
7. Enter netplwiz to open the Network Places Wizard, which can manage your user accounts.
8. Uncheck Users must enter a username and password to use this computer and click OK.
   
9. Enter your administrator password and click OK.

Using Registry Editor

You can also use the Registry Editor to log in automatically to your account. You need to enable the option and create entries for your credentials in the Winlogon registry key for this purpose. To do so,

1. Open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
3. Double-click on AutoAdminLogon. Set its Value data to 1 and click OK.
   
4. If the value is not there, right-click on Winlogon and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Set its name to AutoAdminLogin and value to 1.
5. Then, create the following entries if they are not present:
   • DefaultDomainName
   • DefaultUserName
   • DefaultPassword
6. You can right-click on an empty area on the right pane and select New > String Value to create the entries.
   
7. Now, make sure the entries have the correct values for your user account.
8. You need to set the value of DefaultUserName to your user account name and DefaultPassword to the corresponding password.
9. The DefaultDomainName should be your computer name. You can use the msinfo32 Run command and check System Name to find the necessary value.
   

Remove Password

Even after applying the above methods, you will still get to the login screen after signing out or locking your computer. However, if you don’t even need this layer of security, you can only bypass the login screen by removing your password.

Doing so will also remove the login screen when you wake your PC after sleep or hibernate.

Here’s one of the methods you can use to remove the password:

1. Open Run.
2. Type lusrmgr.msc and press Enter to open Local Users and Groups.
3. Go inside Users.
4. Right-click on your account and select Set Password.
   
5. Select Proceed and click OK without entering any password.

How to Disable Login Screen on Wake-up?

If you don’t want to enter the password again after waking from sleep or hibernation, you can apply one of the following methods:

Through Account Settings

The quickest way to disable the login requirement on wake-up is through your account settings. Here’s how you can do so:

do so through your account settings. Here’s how you can do it:

1. Press Win + I to open Settings.
2. Go to Accounts > Sign-in options.
3. Set If you’ve been away, when should Windows require you to sign in again? to Never.
   

Using Local Group Policy Editor

You can use the Local Group Policy Editor to disable this option. Doing so overwrites any changes you make to your setting, so it is a more permanent solution. To change the policy,

1. Press Win + R to open Run.
2. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter to open the Local Group Policy Editor.
3. Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Power Management > Sleep Settings.
4. Double-click on Require a password when a computer wakes (plugged in).
   
5. Check Disabled and click OK.
6. Do the same for Require a password when a computer wakes (on battery).

Restart your PC to apply the changes.

Through Registry Editor

If you are a Windows Home user, you likely don’t have the Local Group Policy Editor on your system. You can use the Registry Editor to change the same configuration in such cases. To do so,

1. Open Run.
2. Navigate to Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop.
3. Look for DelayLockInterval and double-click on it.
   
4. If you can’t find it, right-click on Desktop and select New > DWORD (32-bit Value). Name it as DelayLockInterval and double-click on it.
   
5. Set the Value data to 0 and click OK.

Restart your PC to apply the change.

Changing Some Hidden Power Options

Your power options also contain hidden options that enable/disable the login screen during wake-up. Here’s how you can disable the option:

1. Open Run.
2. Type cmd and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open the Elevated Command Prompt.
3. Enter the following commands:
   • powercfg /SETACVALUEINDEX SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_NONE CONSOLELOCK 0
   • powercfg /SETDCVALUEINDEX SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_NONE CONSOLELOCK 0
     
4. You don’t need the second command if you are not a laptop user.