How to Disable the Windows 10 Lock Screen

Recently we’ve been covering topics related to the sign in process for Windows 10. One of the things Windows 10 includes in that process is the lock screen, which is a mobile style feature. It’s nice to have it on a Surface Pro or tablets running the new OS. However, with a laptop or traditional desktop, it’s just an extra layer of the login experience that you might want to disable.

There are a few different ways to go about killing the lock screen, but it will depend on which version of Windows 10 you’re running. Here’s how to do it in both versions.

Disable Lock Screen Windows 10 Pro

If you’re running the Pro version of Windows 10, you can use group policy editor to turn it off. To do that hit the keyboard shortcut Windows Key+R to bring up the Run dialog and type:
gpedit.msc and then Enter.

Now head to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization and select Do not display the lock screen.

Now change Not Configured to Enabled and click OK and close out of group policy editor.

Disable Lock Screen Windows 10 Home

The Windows 10 Home version doesn’t include advanced admin tools like group policy editor. However, you can still disable the lock screen with a registry hack.

Important: Making changes to the registry is for experienced users and not for the faint of heart. Before making any changes, create a Restore Point or a backup of the registry first!

First hit Windows Key+R to bring up the Run dialog and type: regedit and hit Enter.

Head to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization. If you don’t have the Personalization key, you’ll need to create it.

Right-click the right pane and create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value and name it NoLockScreen.

Now double-click the NoLockScreen value and give it a data value of 1. Then click OK and close out of Registry Editor.

That’s it! Restart your computer and the lock screen will be disabled, and go directly to the login screen.

It’s also worth mentioning that if you set your Windows 10 PC to log in automatically, it will disable the lock screen as well.