By default, Windows displays your specified (local account ) or your full name and email (microsoft account) in the login screen. This can have a lot of privacy concern especially in public situations.
Using Group Policy Editor
One of the best methods to change configuration settings for your system is using the Local Group Policy editor. Commonly known as GPEDIT, this is a powerful utility that allows you modify and configure group policies.
It is an administrative level tool hence you will require admin privileges to make changes.
NOTE: This tool is not available in Home editions of the Windows systems. If you are using any version of Windows Home, check the registry method to learn how to hide your username.
Step 1. Press the Win + R key to launch the Run utility. Enter gpedit.msc to launch the Group Policy Editor.
This will launch the policy editor.
Step 2: Navigate to the Object Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> Security Options
Step 3: In the security options locate the entry Interactive logon: Do not display username at sign in. Double click to edit this entry.
Set the value to enabled:
Step 4: To disable Windows from displaying your personal information when session is locked, edit the entry interactive logon: display user information when session is locked entry.
Set the value to do not display user information
Click OK to save the changes and close the Group Policy Editor window.
To apply the changes, reboot your machine.
Using the Windows Registry
Another method you can use to hide the username at login Window is editing the Windows registry. This method will work across Windows editions.
NOTE: Before editing the Windows registry, it is good to ensure you create a system restore point.
Step 1: Press Win + R and run regedit.exe to launch the Registry editor.
Step 2: Navigate into HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System.
Step 3: Next, double click the dontdisplaylastusername entry to edit it.
Step 4: In the Value data entry, change the value from 0 to 1 as shown:
Click OK to save the changes.
Step 5: We are not done yet. Locate the unlockwithoutlogon value and change the value from 0 to 3:
Step 6: Finally, Right Click the System and select New -> set DWORD (32-bit) and give it a name of DontDisplayLockedUserID. Ensure to set its value to 3.
Click OK to save changes and close the registry editor.
To apply the changes, reboot your machine.
Conclusion
In this article, we discussed how you can hide your username and personal information on the Windows login window. To login, you can enter the username and its associated password in the provided credential windows.
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