Windows 8 has a new feature that seems to cater more to the mobile user than the desktop user: Windows 8 Auto Lock Out Feature. It logs you out of your account every time you leave the computer alone for a certain period of time. There’s nothing more annoying than having to type a password every time you’re back from something that takes longer than 20 minutes. To make things worse, there’s no obvious way to turn this off. An inability to turn things off in Windows 8 is one of the reasons people are moving away from the OS and back into the arms of Windows 7 and XP, which are more familiar. Today, I’m going to teach you how to get rid of that lock screen.
Locking isn’t something new. You could lock Windows XP, Vista, and 7 using the [Win+L] key combination. The only difference now in Windows 8 is that it does this automatically, without ever asking you if you wanted this or not. It doesn’t even let you opt out. So how do we stop Windows 8 Auto Lock Out Feature?
Way to stop Windows 8 Auto Lock out
The only way to get rid of your lock screen’s automatic appearance is through the Group Policy Editor, an obscure utility in Windows that doesn’t appear in the Start screen or the desktop. This program’s executable is called “gpedit.msc”. You can get access to it either by running it by pressing [Win+R] and typing “gpedit.msc” (on the desktop); or typing “gpedit.msc” when in the Modern interface of Windows 8.
That wasn’t so hard, was it? Now, take a look at the left-hand side of the group policy editor. This list basically gives you backstage access to your computer’s configuration. It details every policy you can establish and empowers you with an uncanny ability to change the unchangeable on your computer. First, you must expand “Computer Configuration” by clicking the little white arrow to its left. If the arrow is black, you don’t need to expand it. After that, expand “Administrative Templates”, then “Control Panel”, and then click on “Personalization”.
You should be here:
Once in there, double-click on “Do not display the lock screen”. You’ll now reach a screen that allows you to enable or disable this feature.
Near the top, you’ll see an option to enable this setting. Click on it and then click [OK] at the bottom right of the dialog. This takes care of everything. You don’t even need to restart.
What If It’s Not Working?
If you aren’t able to finish this process, make sure that you’re logged into your system as an administrator. If you don’t have such access and/or the computer you’re working in doesn’t belong to you, you must contact someone with administrative access to the computer to finish this. Do not do this on any computer that doesn’t belong to you without express permission from the owner.
If you have any further problems, leave a comment below and I’ll walk you through this process.
These instructions are only to disable displaying of the lock screen. That’s why they called the setting “Do not display the lock screen.” It does not change whether or not the computer is locked after being idle for a certain period of time.
Steve, any idea how you actually disable the password lock?
Please refer to this article: https://www.techtipsapp.com/remove-windows-8-lock-screen/ . Hope this helps.
These are not correct. They are for dialling the lock screen. NOT for stopping the Auto Lock feature in Windows 8 where the computer times out after inactivity and shows you a login prompt. Fix your title…
Why would you put these tutorials out when you obviously lack the competence? This does not do what the title says it does.