How to disable the Lock Screen in Windows 10

Since Windows 8, Microsoft has added a Lock Screen feature to Windows in addition to the Logon screen where you type the password. In Windows 10 also, the Lock Screen is an additional screen which is displayed with a fancy background and some useful information like clock and date. It appears before you can pick a user account to sign in. When you lock your computer, again you will see the Lock screen. By default, Windows 10 downloads new images for the Lock screen from the internet. The Lock screen does not bring any additional functionality and exists for entertainment purposes only. If you don't find it useful, you can disable it. In this article, we will see how to disable the Lock Screen in Windows 10.

Update: In Windows 10 "Anniversary Update" version 1607, the lock screen cannot be disabled using the Registry tweak mentioned below. If you are running Windows 10 "Anniversary Update" version 1607, refer to the following article:

Disable Lock Screen in Windows 10 Anniversary Update version 1607

As mentioned above, in Windows 10 the Lock screen is able to download new image backgrounds from the Internet. You can find those images here: Download Windows 10 Lock screen images.

To disable the Lock screen in Windows 10, do the following:

1. Open Registry Editor.
2. Go to the following Registry key:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization

   Tip: You can access any desired Registry key with one click.
   If you do not have such a key, then just create it.

3. There you need to create a new a 32-bit DWORD value named NoLockScreen. Set it to 1 as shown below:

You might need to restart Windows 10 for the changes to take effect.

The same can be done via Group Policy Editor. If you prefer Group Policy over Registry editing, you need to do the following:

1. Press Win + R shortcut keys together on the keyboard to open the Run dialog. Tip: see the full list of all Windows keyboard shortcuts with Win keys. In the Run box, type the following:

   gpedit.msc

   

2. Go to the following path:

   Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Control Panel -> Personalization

3. Enable the Group Policy named Do not display the lock screen:

You are done. The Lock screen will be disabled. You can check it out by pressing Win + L shortcut keys together on the keyboard.
When the Lock screen is enabled, you will see it when PC is locked:

After following tips in this article, it will lead you directly to the sign in screen:

The same can be done using Winaero Tweaker. Go to Boot and Logon -> Disable Lock Screen:

Use this option to avoid Registry editing. It is also available in Windows 8.

That's it.

Support us

Winaero greatly relies on your support. You can help the site keep bringing you interesting and useful content and software by using these options: