How to Disable the Lockscreen on Windows 8/8.1

Windows 8.x is hard for many people to get accustomed to.  One problem that I often see is confusion on the lockscreen.  The lockscreen shows general notifications and initial computer information before ever logging into your computer.  You then must first get past this screen just to log in.  It doesn't make a lot sense, does it?

It looks nice, but isn't terribly useful.

Luckily, Microsoft provided a way to disable it via group policy editor or the registry.  If you are familiar with the registry editor, you can find the setting here:



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization]
"NoLockScreen"=dword:00000001


Setting it to 1 disables the lockscreen (requires a reboot).


If you ever want to re-enable it, simply set it back to 0:


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization]
"NoLockScreen"=dword:00000000

For ease of use, I have created two registry files that will import these settings for you.  Simply double-click them, and follow the instructions.

Disable: http://1drv.ms/1ef4ebw

Enable: http://1drv.ms/1ef72Wb

Use these at your own risk!  You should create a restore point before ever editing the registry, just to be safe.