Security questions are the traditional way to add extra protection for your sensitive data. They are very popular in the software world. Windows 10 allows the user to specify a set of security questions for a local account, which can be used to restore PC access if the user forgets his password. If you find no use for this feature, or if you need to apply a restriction, there is a special Group Policy option that you can activate.
- What was your first pet's name?
- What's the name of the city where you were born?
- What was your childhood nickname?
- What's the name of the city where your parents met?
- What's the first name of your oldest cousin?
- What's the name of the first school you attended?
The user can select three of them.
To restrict access to security questions, you need to use a special Group Policy option first introduced in Windows 10 Build 18237. Before proceeding, ensure that your user account has administrative privileges.
To disable security questions feature in Windows 10 using Registry Editor, do the following.
- Open the Registry Editor app.
- Go to the following Registry key.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System
See how to go to a Registry key with one click. Create this Registry key if you don't have it.
- On the right, create a new 32-bit DWORD value NoLocalPasswordResetQuestions. Note: Even if you are running 64-bit Windows you must still create a 32-bit DWORD value.
- To disable the Security Questions feature, set its value data to 1.
- To make the changes done by the Registry tweak take effect, you need to restart Windows 10.
To save your time, you can download the following ready-to-use Registry files.
The undo tweak is included.
Using Local Group Policy Editor
If you are running Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, or Education edition, you can use the Local Group Policy Editor app to configure the options mentioned above with a GUI.
- Press Win + R keys together on your keyboard and type:
gpedit.msc
Press Enter.
- Group Policy Editor will open. Go to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Credential User Interface. Enable the policy option Prevent the use of security questions for local accounts, as shown below.
That's it.
Related articles:
How to Add Security Questions for Local Account in Windows 10
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The registry tweak is not working for me. I still see the security questions in settings->accounts.