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How to Disable or Change Background Image of Windows 10 Login Screen

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UPDATE: Newer Windows 10 versions already come with a built-in option to disable background image of login screen. Instructions about the new method have been added in the tutorial.

If you upgraded or installed Windows 10 operating system in your computer, you might have noticed the new background image which is shown on the Login Screen (also called Welcome Screen, Logon Screen or Sign-in Screen) of Windows 10. Microsoft has added a new background image to Windows 10 Login Screen which is actually slightly modified Hero wallpaper.

Default_Windows_10_Login_Screen.png

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“Hero” wallpaper was first included into Windows 10 Insider Preview build 10159 and also comes as the default wallpaper in final RTM build of Windows 10. We have shared it in past for your convenience:

Download Windows 10 Official “Hero” Wallpaper and Login Screen Background

The new background image of Windows 10 Login Screen might please a few people but most of the people didn’t like it. Recently an AskVG reader “Timo” contacted us regarding the same issue:

One thing that would be highly interesting and maybe you know a bit about. Windows 10 unlock screen (login screen) wallpaper – how do you change it? Because that blueish-glow-windows-logo reminds me a lot of KDE 4.0. I can only imagine the default picture being ‘a bit much’ for quite a few others. Thanks for all the hints and help you delivered so far.

We have received several similar emails from many AskVG readers who requested for the same. They all want to get rid of the background image of Windows 10 Login Screen.

So today in this tutorial, we are going to tell you ways to disable or change Windows 10 Login Screen background image.

METHOD 1: Turn Off Background Picture on Sign-in Screen Using Settings app

In newer Windows 10 builds, Microsoft has added an option to disable/turn off background image of login screen in Settings app:

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1. Press WIN+I keys together to open Settings app.

2. Now go to “Personalization -> Lock screen” section and set the option “Show Windows background picture on the sign-in screen” (or “Show lock screen background picture on the sign-in screen“) to Off.

Disable_Background_Image_Windows_10_Sign_in_Screen.png

PS: Alternatively, You can directly launch this page using “ms-settings:lockscreen” command in RUN dialog box as mentioned here.

It’ll immediately disable background image on login screen.

Also Check:

[Windows 10 Fun Tip] Disable Login Screen and Lock Screen and Enable Console Mode

METHOD 2: Disable Windows 10 Login Screen Background Image

When Windows 10 was under development, there was a built-in registry tweak to disable or remove this background image from Login Screen. We have shared it in our Windows 10 hidden secret registry tweaks topic. It requires creating a DWORD DisableLogonBackgroundImage in registry to disable login screen background image.

Disable_Windows_10_Login_Screen_Background_Image.png

Check out following article to learn more about the Registry tweak to disable Windows 10 Login Screen background image:

Registry Tweak to Disable Login Screen Background Image in Windows 10

The registry tweak still works in final RTM version of Windows 10. If it doesn’t wok for you, make sure you have installed all available Windows 10 updates and graphics card driver from Windows Update and then the registry tweak will work without any problem.

BONUS TIP: Remove User Picture from Windows 10 Login Screen

If you want, you can remove the user picture shown on Login Screen to get a clean and minimal interface of Login Screen.

Check out following tutorial which was posted for Windows Vista and Windows 7 but the method still works for Windows 10:

[Windows Tip] Remove User Picture from Login Screen / Start Menu

METHOD 3: Change or Customize Windows 10 Login Screen Background Image

If we talk about login screen background image location, its stored in a system file “Windows.UI.Logon.pri” present in “C:\Windows\SystemResources\Windows.UI.Logon\” folder. You might be wondering what kind of this .PRI file is? PRI stands for “Package Resource Index” and this PRI file contains the Hero background image of Login Screen in different resolution sizes. But you can’t directly modify this file. You need to first extract the background images from this PRI file using a working tool. Windows 8/8.1/10 SDK contains such kind of tools to modify PRI files. But its a very complicated task and a very small mistake in editing this file may cause your system broken and you’ll not be able to log into Windows.

Fortunately there is a freeware available which automatically performs the same task and allows you to change or remove background image from Windows 10 Login Screen.

Windows_10_Login_Screen_Background_Changer.png

“Windows 10 Logon Background Changer” is a free and portable utility for Windows 10 which helps you in customizing background image of Windows 10 Login Screen. You can change the default “Hero” wallpaper and replace it with any desired wallpaper on Login Screen as shown in following screenshot:

Custom_Windows_10_Login_Screen_Background.png

You can also remove the background image completely and set any desired color as background color of the Login Screen with the help of this little tool.

No_Windows_10_Login_Screen_Background.png

There is also an option given to restore default background image if required.

The tool is very easy to use and we have tested it on various Windows 10 machines without any problem.

Interested people can download it using following link:

Download Windows 10 Logon Background Changer

UPDATE: Many people have faced booting problems after using this tool so we have decided to remove the download link. It seems a new Windows 10 update KB3081424 is causing screen flickering issue between Lock Screen and Login Screen. Most of the time the problem occurs if you upgraded your previous Windows version to Windows 10. Clean installation of Windows 10 might not create problems while using this tool.

PS: For advanced users, as we mentioned the tool automatically modifies the “Windows.UI.Logon.pri” present in “C:\Windows\SystemResources\Windows.UI.Logon\” folder. Before modifying the PRI file, it first creates a backup of the file with the name “Windows.UI.Logon.pri.bak“. So if something goes wrong, you can boot using Windows setup disc or bootable USB drive and then select Repair option and then open Command Prompt tool from Advanced Repair Options. Now you can safely delete the new PRI file and then rename the BAK file to “Windows.UI.Logon.pri” again to restore default login screen. Or you can run SFC /SCANNOW command to restore all default system files.

NOTE: Steps to Fix Login Screen Flickering Issue in Windows 10

Here are the instructions given by the software developer to fix screen flickering issue:

1. When you switch on your Windows 10 PC, force restart your computer three times by holding down power button until the computer shuts down, then turn on your computer again.

2. After doing this, the automatic repair screen will appear. Now click through “Advanced Options -> Troubleshoot -> Advanced Options -> Command Prompt” options.

3. Type following command in Command Prompt window:

echo list volume | diskpart

Now find the drive letter where Windows 10 is installed in your computer.

4. After finding the correct drive letter, run following command:

Drive_letter:

Replace “Drive_letter” term in above command with the correct drive letter where Windows 10 is installed.

For example:

C:

5. Now run following commands one by one:

CD Windows\SystemResources\Windows.UI.Logon\
del Windows.UI.Logon.pri
copy Windows.UI.Logon.pri.bak Windows.UI.Logon.pri

6. Restart your computer and now you’ll be able to login without any problem.

Published in: Software, Windows 10

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

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Comments

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  1. Got the flickering screen because of the upgrade from 8.1, so then I used the installation dvd I had made to do a clean install.
    This login screen looks like headlights shining into a smoke-filled room. Do you have to be weird to work for Microsoft? None of your solutions for the login screen work on my system, so I loaded a Linux live cd, went into the area where img0.jpg is stored, replaced it with an image of the same size and name but one colour (black). It managed to find or restore the old blue smokey ….
    “Weird” doesn’t cover it. This is OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder).

  2. Oops! After installing the app and doïng the change for the login screen (I chose a color), fsystem crashed. It switched back and forth rapidly between the login screen and lock screen, looks like the system is flipping. Here’s how I fixed it.

    NOTE: If you have made a restore point before you did the login background change, you can also revert back to this restore point using the windows 10 recovery environment from step 1 and 2 below.

    NOTE 2: Just type the commands described below in steps 7-10 and you should be good to go

    1. Start Windows 10 in recovery mode, (make sure pc is shut down completely, you can press and hold the power button during the screen flickering to make your pc go off completely).
    2. Again press the power button and after BIOS / manufacturer logo press the ‘f8-key’ or ‘shift-f8’ key to boot into safe-mode.
    3. In the following screen select ‘Troublshoot’ (the toolkit icon)
    4. Then select ‘Advance Options’ (the checklist icon’
    5. Then select ‘Command Prompt’ (the Dosbox icon / C:\ -icon)
    6. You will probably be asked to fill in your password, please do so.
    7. You will now see the CMD screen, please type the folllowing command without quotes: “cd “C:\Windows\SystemResources\Windows.UI.Logon\”
    8. Now type without quotes: “ren Windows.UI.Logon.pri Windows.UI.Logon.pri.faulty”
    9. Now type without quotes: “ren Windows.UI.Logon.pri.bak Windows.UI.Logon.pri”
    10. Almost there, type without quotes :-): “exit”
    11. And finally choose in the menu for ‘Turn of your pc’.
    12. Now you can turn your computer on again and enjoy the ‘old’ default Windows 10 lock screen.

    Good luck, and I advice to use the restore point function in Windows when using this kind of software ;-).

    Cheerio,

    Nils.

  3. I did a clean install of W10 and used the application to set a custom login screen background image , now can I install the update KB3081424 or not?

  4. ^^ First restore default image using the tool and then install the update. After installing update, you can reuse the tool and change the background image.

  6. VG, Nils-Peter,
    Thank you very much! I could not clean-install Windows for some reason, but I managed to get into the safe-mode screen, deleted the Windows.UI.Logon.pri file and renamed Windows.UI.Logon.pri.bak file. All is well!
    Thanks again!

  7. I have the same flickering issue and have tried numerous times to perform the fix but I keep getting told that the system cannot find the file specified! Any help would be greatly appreciated x

  8. ^^ You can try sfc /scannow command to restore all default system files. Or try Reset This PC option given in Troubleshoot to restore your Windows 10 to factory settings.

  11. First of all, I need to clarify something. Since updates are cumulative in Windows 10, users who upgrade or install Windows 10 on or after August, 12, 2015 will not see KB3081424 in their update history.

    Telling users to use the command line might not be such a good idea due to its lack of a friendly GUI. This is what I recommend instead…

    1. If you haven’t already done so, borrow a PC and download Hiren’s Boot CD from here: hirensbootcd.org/download/

    2. Unzip the zipped file and put the ISO in a location where you can easily find it, e.g. the desktop.

    3. Burn the ISO to a CD.

    4. On the PC with the issue, press and hold the power button for at least 30 seconds. I recommend 1 minute just to be sure.

    5. Open the CD/DVD tray and load the CD

    6. Press the power button to boot the PC.

    7. Before the manufacturer’s or Windows logo screen appears, tap the designated key with in a quick rhythm to boot into your UEFI/BIOS. (Refer to your PC’s manual if you don’t know the designated key).

    8. Check and ensure the boot type is set to “Legacy”. If not, change it.

    9. Check and ensure the optical drive is first in the boot order. If not, change it.

    10. Save your changes and exit the UEFI/BIOS. Allow the PC to boot into Hiren’s.

    11. Once in Hiren’s, select “Mini Windows Xp”.

    12. Once in XP, open Explorer and navigate to C:\Windows\SystemResources\Windows.UI.Logon.

    13. Find the file named Windows.UI.Logon.pri and delete it.

    14. Find the file named Windows.UI.Logon.pri.bak and rename it to Windows.UI.Logon.pri.

    15. Eject and remove the CD.

    16. Boot into the UEFI/BIOS once more and reverse the changes made in steps 8 and 9 above.

    17. Exit the UEFI/BIOS and boot the PC.

    Waala! You will boot into Windows 10 without any problems.

  12. i experienced the flickering problem without using any tool. i have a 7 & 10 (not a clean install of 10) dual boot, the problem occurred right after the win10 bootscreen i could only see a blackscreen and a blinking cursor whenever i move my mouse. i thought i installed wrong GPU drivers for it or something. it did not budge after a few tries so i went back to using win7 for that day. Next day i tried to logon to win10 and it went thru. only change i did was to my win7’s bootscreen, i used bootupdater. i dont know if that affected it but it went thru, problem hasnt happened since.

    @VG- thanks for the .prt file tip, i’ve been exploring the .dll files for what i could maybe customize, i did not know about those prt’s. speaking of customizing, 2 questions:
    Do we still have to take ownership of system files in windows 10 before editing them? are those dll files (shell32, imageres…) safe to edit for this OS?
    10 looks so plain. hopefully you will learn many customizing tricks for editing windows 10 appearance in the future that i can pick up. thanks VG

  13. ^^ Yes. Windows 10 also requires taking ownership of files and editing Windows 10 files is similar to Windows 8/8.1.

  14. i was completely followed step by step the tutorial, but when i want to log into windows, there is a message “The User Profile Service service failed the sign-in
    User profile cannot be loaded”
    anyone can help me with a case like this. thanks guys.

  16. Thanks for the post, I had problems for change the login session background, I have restored the system.ui.pri like you comment and it’s functional.

    Very thanks

  17. I have gone through the procedure in the Lock Screen menu to turn off the background sign-in screen but it keeps opening up. This is something Microsoft should be issuing a fix for instead of messing with 3rd party apps or tweaking the registry which is not something people should be doing if they don’t know what they’re doing.

  18. How do I kill that first photo that comes up, always some hyper-photoshopped thing that asks me if I like it? clicking on it takes me to the login screen. Just want to get rid of that first photo, none of which I like (and I’m a photographer).

  21. Does anyone know where the lock screen picture is stored in the registry? The key

    HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Personalization | LockScreenImage

    no longer seems to have any effect, nor does the GPO setting “Force a specific default lock screen image”.

    Additionally, changing the picture manually through settings and then searching the registry for the selected picture’s file name doesn’t find anything.

  22. my problem is the image before you sign-in or login your password, there was an image that image i want to remove not the hero image behind the login

  24. Hello guys, Do any of you experienced after using this software your pc doesn’t shut down correctly only the screen turns off and if so please give same tips how to fix it, I’m tired holding the power button 🙁

  29. The problem is still here, I followed all the possible steps and guide. Did reset my windows couple of times to do the delete and renaming but it’s still here. Please help me, I’m not a tech guy

  30. ^^ If you turn off “Show lock screen background picture on the sign-in screen” option, it’ll disable background image.

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