23 thoughts on “How to hide user accounts from the login screen in Windows 8.1”

  1. So, If i make one of these hidden accounts, how do i log-in to it from the log-in screen while it’s still hidden? Or do i have to unhide it through the registry to be able to access it again. I would love to be able to log-in to a hidden account via this method.

    1. AFAIK you will be able to log in only if your PC is in AD/domain. Then it offers to enter the user name manually.

      1. Back in the XP-era you could press Ctrl+Alt+Del _twice_ on the Welcome Screen to get the old 2000 GINA logon screen where you could type the username. I have not tried this on NT6 so I don’t know if it still works…

  2. I followed your steps into successfully hiding my original user. HOWEVER, I can’t unhide it because my current user account doesn’t have administrator priviledges to edit the registry back to its original place. Is there any way around this? I can’t even install software on this new user because it’s not an admnistrator account and I can’t set it to an admnistrator account without having access to my hidden account either. I think this is something you should’ve warned about in your original post.

    1. But i warned!

      Before you proceed, you need to know the following: if you hide all your accounts you will not be able to sign in until you enable the Administrator account using the Windows installation DVD or recovery disc.

      1. Boot from any Windows Vista/7/8/10 bootable media
      2. When you will see the Install button, press Shift+F10 to open a new cmd.exe instance.
      3. Type regedit and then select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
      4. Click File – Mount Hive. Select c:\windows\system32\config\system from your hard drive.
      5. Delete values for the hidden account.
      6. Start OS normally.

      1. Hi Sergey,

        I have the same problem as Peter Rabbit.
        I didn’t realize that if we hide all of our “admin” accounts, that’s what you meant by hide all of your accounts.
        Nevertheless, I have a Windows 8.1 Pro machine and have BitLocker enabled.
        Do Steps 1 and 2 change for me?
        Is it even possible to recover with BitLocker enbaled?

        Regards,
        Robert

        1. You can navigate to C:\Windows and shift key + right click on regedit.exe. This will bring up an option ‘Run as different user’ and you can log in with admin credentials to get into the registry and unhide the admin account.

  3. Is it possible to do Step 1 (Boot from any Windows Vista/7/8/10 bootable media) without a disc?
    I have Windows 8.1 Pro

    1. Well, you can create the recovery flash drive or CD and use it, using the built-in Win8.1 tool. Type recovery on the Start screen.

  4. This is very neat, but is there a way to hide it only from the Start screen? This also hides it from the UAC dialog when a standard user requires admin credentials… and well, that’s inconvenient, to say the least.

    Also, you could add as an easier workaround for those who locked themselves out hiding all admin accounts by mistake, to follow these easy steps:
    1. Open a CMD window.
    2. Type: runas /user:\ cmd
    3. It will prompt for the admin password, provide it
    4. The CMD window will have now admin rights, you can run regedit from there and fix the issue.

  5. If you create the UserList registry key using an ordinary account rather than an adminsitartor account the key seems to allow ‘Users’ full permission on it.
    You can create a text file using notepad like this :

    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

    [-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList]

    (Note the minus sign before ‘HKEY’.) Save as MakeHiddenAccountsVisible.reg and then double click this file to merge it into the registry and make your accounts visible after the next restart.

  6. I have just done it on windows 10. It hide user on login screen, but we go to C:/users/ and we will see all user list. Is there anyway to hide that username from listing folder on C://Users ?

    1. There is no way to hide it from there, unless you move the profile to some other location.
      Deserves an article here.

  7. The hidden username trick during logon allow to use a hidden account:

    httр://www.sеvеnfоrums.соm/tutоriаls/61650-lоg-usеr-nаmе-pаsswоrd.html

  8. > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon <
    This key does not open the registry in windows 10, it says –
    Make sure you typed the name correctly

    1. “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon” is a registry path – have you tried opening up the specific folders – once by one – its usually easier and faster to go to a specific registry container.

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