Disable Windows 10 Lock Screen Requirement

If you log into your Windows 10 PC using a local account and password you must first click or swipe on the lock screen to reveal the password input prompt. This extra step is not really necessary and can be removed using the following registry edit within this article.

This way, upon boot up, you may simply begin typing your password without first having to click or swipe away your lock screen.

Disable Windows 10 Lock Screen

To remove the lock screen requirement and display the password prompt immediately on your Windows based PC, open your Registry Editor.

• To open your registry editor, click “Start” and type “regedit” then press “Enter” on your keyboard.
• Copy and paste the below address into the address bar at the top:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\

• You are now under the “Windows” key / folder. Locate a sub-key / folder titled “Personalization“.
  • If it doesn’t exist you will need to create it. To create this key right click on the parent “Windows” folder and click “New” then “Key” and name it “Personalization“.
• Once this new key is created click on it and create, or update, the DWORD (32-bit) Value entry named “NoLockScreen” and set its value to “1” (see screenshot below).
  • Alternatively, you can download the registry editor script using the button below (at your own risk of course). Be sure to have a working backup, just in case.

Lock Screen Settings Page

Note, upon performing this registry edit and rebooting you will no longer be able to adjust the Lock screen settings. You will receive the following notice on the Lock screen settings page (see image below):

* Some of these settings are hidden or managed by your organization.

To be able to edit the Lock screen settings again, simply delete the NoLockScreen DWORD you created in the instructions above and reboot.

Disable Windows 10 Sign-in Requirement

To disable the requirement of signing in each time your computer resumes from sleep mode or away mode click on the start button / windows logo at the bottom left of the screen and type “sign“. Then select “Sign-in options” from the menu. Set the “Require sign-in” option to “Never” as shown below.

Conclusion

I hope this article has helped you disable the Windows 10 lock screen. I welcome your thoughts, questions or suggestions regarding this article.

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Editors Note:
This article was first published on August 20th, 2018 and was revised on March 25th, 2020 to include how to create the necessary “Personalization” key / folder.