you're using a Microsoft account to log into your computer, Windows displays your real name and email address on the login screen. This can be a privacy concern--for example, with shoulder surfers when you're using your laptop in public--and it's less secure than requiring you to enter both your username and password to get into your computer. Here are two ways to hide this personal information in the login screen.

hide user info login

The steps below work for Windows 8 and Windows 10 and will be applied to all user accounts on your PC. Note that if you're using Windows 10 Home edition, you'll need to use the registry method, since you won't have access to the Group Policy Editor.


Method 1: Edit the Computer Policy to Hide Your User Information

1. Search for "Local Group Policy Editor" in the Windows taskbar and hit Enter.

group policy

2. Navigate to Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options.

group policy security3. Double-click "Interactive logon: Display user information when the session is locked". This tells Windows which user information to show on the login screen when your laptop is locked.

group policy locked

4. Select "Do not display user information."

group policy locked2

5. Click Apply then OK to have this go into effect immediately.

6. Next, double-click "Interactive logon: Do not display last user name". This tells Windows whether or not to display your user info when you boot your computer.

group policy lastusername7. Change the setting to Disabled and Click OK.

group policy lastusername2
Method 2: Edit the Registry to Hide Your User Information

1. Search for "regedit" in the Windows taskbar and hit Enter.

regedit2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Policies\System

3. Double-click dontdisplaylastusername.

regedit username4. Change the 0 to 1 in the Value data field.

regedit username value

5. Click OK.

6. Right-click an empty area in the right panel and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.

regedit new dword7. Enter DontDisplayLockedUserID for the DWORD name.

regedit new dword28. Double-click DontDisplayLockedUserID.

9. Change the 0 to 3 in the Value data field.

regedit new dword310. Hit OK.

The next time you log into your computer, your info will be hidden. To log in, you'll need to fill in both your username (email address or your first and last name) and your password. It's an extra step, but one many people might want to do for privacy or security reasons. While you're at it, you can disable the lock screen in Windows 10 too and get to the login screen more quickly.