How to Create Desktop Shortcut for Ctrl + Alt + Del

You can create you own desktop shortcut for the Ctrl + Alt + Del screen. It is pretty useful when you work over Remote Desktop apps, as it explicitly opens on the needed machine. Clicking such a shortcut will open for you the familiar full screen page with the Lock, Sign out, Task Manager,  Change password commands, etc.

What is the Ctrl + Alt + Del screen in Windows

The Ctrl+Alt+Del screen, sometimes referred as the Windows Security screen, is a special page in Windows that opens when the user hits the Ctrl + Alt + Del keyboard shortcut. Typically, it includes several PC management options, the set of which may vary depending on the device, user account, and connection type. Let's review them.

Lock

An option to lock the computer: The locked PC will require to enter your password to access your desktop. It is great when you have to leave your work place for some short time.

Sign out

Another option is "Sign out", which will sign you out of your current session. It will close all your apps and documents, so the PC is ready to start you work from scratch.

Change Password

The "Change Password" option allows changing your current password. It will open the appropriate dialog box if you select it.

Task Manager

The "Task Manager" option is probably most frequently used option of the Ctrl+Alt+Del screen. The Task Manager is the inbox app that displays all the processes running on your computer, along with the system performance details like CPU, memory, and disk usage. It allows you to manage Startup apps, and services.

Switch User

This option allows you switch from one user account to another without  logging out from the OS. Thanks to it, multiple users can have work sessions simultaneously on a single PC.

Power Icon

In addition to those, there is a power icon that includes an extra menu to  shut down or restart the device. It is usually located at the bottom-right corner of the Ctrl+Alt+Del screen.

If the keyboard sequence is not enough for you, and you need some alternative way to open the security screen, you can create a desktop shortcut for opening it. There are several methods to get that done.

Create Desktop Shortcut for the Ctrl+Alt+Del screen

1. Right-click an empty space on your desktop and select New > Shortcut from the menu.
2. In the "Type the location of the item:" box paste the following command: explorer.exe shell:::{2559a1f2-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}, and click Next.
3. On the next page, give your shortcut some name like Ctrl Alt Del screen.
4. Now, double-click the shortcut you just created. You will be presented with the familiar Ctrl + Alt + Del page.

That's it!

You may have already noticed that some of the options are missing in my screenshot above. That's because I am connecting via RDP. Otherwise the options to switch the user and change my password would be visible.

If the shell::: command doesn't suit you needs or doesn't work for some reason, a good alternative to it is VBScript. By creating a small file of 4 lines of text you can invoke the CAD screen. By creating a shortcut to that file you will have a desktop shortcut for the Ctrl+Alt+Del screen. Here's how.

VBScript method

Step 1. Open you favorite text editor (Notepad will do), and paste the following text into the new document.

dim objShell
set objShell = CreateObject("shell.application")
objShell.WindowsSecurity
set objShell = nothing

Step 2. Save the document to a file with the vbs extension. For that, press Ctrl + S and then enclose the file name in quotes in the file name box, e.g. "scriptCAD.vbs".

Step 3. Create a new desktop shortcut, and provide the following as the item location: wscript.exe path\to\your\vbs file. In case it will be wscript.exe c:\Users\winaero\Documents\scriptCAD.vbs.

Step 4. Name you shortcut as Ctrl Alt Del screen and double-click it. Voila, the CAD page will open instantly.

The VBScript solution is nice: It is lightweight and fast. However, there is a catch. Microsoft claims that the whole Windows Scripting Host platform is now deprecated. One day we can end up with VBScript missing after a Windows update. In this very case, you can use PowerShell instead. Let's review this method too.

Create the Ctrl Alt Delete desktop shortcut with PowerShell

1. Right-click your desktop, and select New > Shortcut from the context menu.
2. In the Location of the item text area paste the following command: Powershell.exe -noprofile -nologo -noninteractive -command "(new-object -ComObject shell.application).WindowsSecurity()".
3. Click on the Next button, and specify a meaningful name for your shortcut.
4. Now, click Finish in the New Shortcut dialog, and double-click your new Desktop shortcut. The PowerShell window will briefly appear on the screen, after which you will see the CAD page.

That's it! The only downside of this method is the flashing PowerShell window that remains visible for a second. Everything else is pretty fine.

All the above reviewed solutions are native to Windows and don't require you to use any third party tool. But this doesn't mean that you shouldn't or can't. For example, you can create your own executable, say in Lazarus/Pascal. It will be a nice small native app that opens the Ctrl + Alt + Del page on demand.

Create Your Own App to Open the Ctrl + Alt + Del Screen

To create such an app, you must create a Shell object in Pascal to call the WindowsSecurity method. This method opens the CAD screen. The task involves using COM (Component Object Model) to interact with the Windows Shell. This will allow you to use the WindowsSecurity method to call the Security Options dialog box.

Step 1. Add required units

Ensure that your project includes the necessary units for working with COM objects. Typically, you'll need ActiveX, ComObj, Variants, and ShellAPI. I recommend adding these: Windows, SysUtils, ActiveX, ComObj, ShellAPI, Variants.

Step 2. Initialize COM Library

Before using any COM objects, you need to initialize the COM library. The CoInitialize(nil); statement does the trick.

Step 3. Create and Use Shell Object

You will create an instance of the IShellDispatch interface and call its WindowsSecurity method.

Here's a complete example in Pascal that you can compile with Lazarus:

program WindowsSecurity;

uses
Windows, SysUtils, ActiveX, ComObj, ShellAPI, Variants;

var
Shell: Variant;
begin
// Initialize COM library
CoInitialize(nil);

try
// Create a Shell object
Shell := CreateOleObject('Shell.Application');

// Call the WindowsSecurity method
if not VarIsEmpty(Shell) then
Shell.WindowsSecurity;
except
on E: Exception do
MessageBox(0,PChar('Error: ' + E.Message), 'WindowsSecurity.exe',MB_ICONERROR + MB_OK);
end;

// Uninitialize COM library
CoUninitialize;

end.

Download the Executable file

I have compiled the above code for you into an executable binary. If you don't want to deal with Lazarus/Delphi/anything else, you can simply download it.

Download the file

Simply run it, and it will open the Ctrl Alt Del dialog for you. Obviously, you can create a shortcut for it and use to open it in addition to hotkeys.

Why not use AutoIt?

You may wonder why I am using a Pascal code, and not AutoIt. AutoIt is a freeware scripting language designed for automating the Windows GUI and general scripting. It allows users to automate almost anything in the Windows operating system by simulating keystrokes, mouse movements, and window commands. Sounds great, but it is not suitable for our task. Here's why.

Sending the Ctrl + Alt + Del key combination programmatically is a bit tricky because it's a secure attention sequence (SAS) that is handled at a low level by the operating system. This means that most applications, including AutoIt, cannot simulate this key combination directly due to security reasons. So, If you absolutely need to send Ctrl + Alt + Del, you would typically need to use a lower-level system call or hook into the Windows API.

Why Windows includes the Ctrl+Alt+Del option?

There are a number of reasons for Microsoft to add the CAD requirement. Here are some of them.

Security

The Ctrl+Alt+Del combination was designed as a security measure. In older versions of Windows, like Windows 2000, this combination was used to prevent malware or unauthorized programs from mimicking the login screen and capturing your password. By requiring the physical pressing of those keys, it made it harder for malicious software to intercept or fake the login prompt.

Prevention of Unauthorized Access

By requiring this key combination before accessing sensitive system tools like Task Manager or user account settings, it adds a layer of protection to prevent unauthorized access.

So, the Ctrl+Alt+Del screen is an important feature in Windows that helps manage user accounts, security, system performance, and access to critical system tools like the Task Manager. It's an important part of maintaining both security and usability, especially in multi-user environments or when an app has stopped responding and blocks your computer.

Closing Words

Invoking the Windows Security options may not be your daily task. But if you really need it, you may find that Windows doesn't offer you an obvious way. Anyway, it is not a big deal. With help of PowerShell, VBScript, of just with a shell::: command you can create a shortcut to open the Ctrl Alt Del page. If that's not enough, you can quickly build an executable file that opens it for you, and then create a shortcut for that exe.