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I recently setup a new computer for my parents with windows 10 home. I made two local accounts for them - no microsoft accounts. I also would like to keep them without a password. Problem is now that windows automatically signs in with the last used account. No lock/login screen.

I tried a number of answers from similar questions here but none worked. Since it's a home version there are no group policies and the method using task scheduler does not work because accounts with no password are not allowed to create such tasks.

Are there other options to force windows to show a user list on startup without setting passwords for the accounts?

PixelSupreme
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5 Answers5

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The following link describes how to change this behaviour in Windows 8 using a registry setting and some permissions on that registry setting. It also works with Windows 10.

http://www.eightforums.com/user-accounts-family-safety/10004-help-multiple-users-login-screen.html

First launch the registry editor: Press WIN + R, type regedit and click "OK".

Navigate to the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\UserSwitch

Change value of the key Enabled from 0 to 1

There's one more problem to solve: The user SYSTEM automatically changes the value to 0. So we will disallow the user SYSTEM to change it.

  • Right mouse click at registry key UserSwitch -> Permissions
  • Click on Advanced and then on the Disable inheritance-button; if your are prompted with two options now, choose the first one (Convert inherited permissions into explicit ones for this object)
  • At the top of the dialog, change the owner from SYSTEM to the group Administrators (if your Windows is not in English, the name might differ a bit, e.g. in German it would be "Administratoren")
  • Select the group Administrators entry -> Allow -> full control
  • Double click the entry for SYSTEM, select type Deny and click on Show advanced permissions. Here Clear all -> only check Set value
Community
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rubendn
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  • I think I've messed up something. After I click on "Disable inheritance", a dialogbox pops up saying something about implicit inheritance or disable all inheritances, I guess. Which one I should've clicked on? – Gui Imamura Dec 19 '15 at 07:23
  • @GuiImamura: I chose the first one (Convert inherited permissions into explicit ones for this object) and it worked for me... – mozzbozz Dec 23 '15 at 10:58
  • Why do you need the "Disable Inheritance" part? Surely simply adding a "Deny" rule for SYSTEM is sufficient? – Doin Jan 10 '16 at 14:51
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    Ugh. This solution ended up leading to the problem described here http://www.briteccomputers.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?tid=222&pid=1238#pid1238 in which UAC prompts errored with "Extended Attributes are Inconsistent". – G-Wiz Jul 03 '16 at 04:26
  • Looked harder to do than expected. Thank you so much =) – Darksoulpk68 Oct 26 '17 at 21:34
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    It seems that after the Fall Update, this doesn't work anymore, and Windows logs me in automatically again. Anyone else seeing this? – Berend Oct 30 '17 at 16:02
  • after one of the latest updates the registry key UserSwitch and all of it's permissions have been reset and I'm back to automatic logon (worked for 8 months now). I assume after I redid this, I'll have peace for some more months. – hardmooth Jul 30 '19 at 18:35
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    Too bad this is not a permanent solution. – pacoverflow Aug 12 '19 at 19:00
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A solution posted by Larry Jacobson on the Microsoft Community Q & A that I've confirmed works is to disable the automatic use of sign-in info for every single account on the system. You access that option in the Settings app under Accounts > Sign-in options, in the Privacy section.

Make sure to disable the option for every single account on the system, not just the account that gets signed in automatically or all accounts without a password.

Screenshot showing the disabled sign-in option in the Windows 10 Settings app

bertieb
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Magnus Lind Oxlund
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2

Windows 10 64-bit

How to disable auto logon using the Windows registry. Create a new file called anyname.reg Copy all of the following text and paste it into anyname.reg Save type text file. Double click anyname.reg and answer with yes/ok

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
"AutoAdminLogon"="0"
"DefaultUserName"=""
"DefaultPassword"=""
somebadhat
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  • This was it for me. I had enabled AutoAdminLogon and after trying to reenable the authentication via the settings, it simply wouldn't work. I also had a duplicate entry for the login screen after implementing rubendn's solution. What fixed it for me was to remove the AutoAdminLogon registry as above. – Joseph Marikle Mar 29 '23 at 02:06
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Open netplwiz by pressing Win+R, and typing netplwiz. It will give you advanced user settings. Find a check mark that says

Users must enter a username and a password to use this computer

and set it to true (check it).

Joseph
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0

If last user does not have a password and after reboot Windows 10 Auto Logon from last user without password null. You can stop autologon by putting a random password and reset it after a restart. Create startup/shutdown script (Computer GPO Local) : * Startup Script : Net user [User] "" * Shutdown Script : Net user [User] RandomPassword

it works with windows 10 1909.

user1161109
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