[Fix] “Users Must Enter a User Name and Password to Use This Computer” Checkbox Missing in Windows 10

SUMMARY: If you use automatic login functionality in Windows 10 using “control userpasswords2” or “netplwiz” commands and you found that the required “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer” checkbox is missing or removed in newer versions of Windows 10, this article will help you in fixing the issue and adding back the not available option.

Long long time back, we posted a tutorial to help users in automatic login to Windows operating system. With the help of the tutorial, users can login to Windows without any need to entering user name and password at login screen or sign-in screen. You can find the tutorial at following link:

How to Auto Login to Windows 10 Without Username and Password

Advertisement

Many people use the above mentioned trick to automatic sign into their user accounts in their computer systems. It saves time and if you are using a personal computer system and no other person uses your computer, there is no harm in using this trick.

PROBLEM SYMPTOM:

The problem started when Microsoft released version 2004 of Windows 10 operating system. The latest Windows 10 version 2004 (or May 2020 Update) doesn’t show the required “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer” checkbox to some selected users. When the user runs “control userpasswords2” or “netplwiz” commands, the checkbox is missing in these programs.

Surprisingly the problem occurs to some users only. Many Windows 10 users can access the checkbox without any issue.

Following screenshot shows the checkbox is present and missing in Windows 10 devices:

Users_Must_Enter_User_Name_And_Password_To_Use_This_Computer_Checkbox_Missing_Windows_10.png

After receiving users emails regarding this issue, I started investigating the issue and found the culprit. Actually it’s a feature by design.

PROBLEM REASON:

Newer versions of Windows 10 come with a new Passwordless sign-in feature (More Info) which allows users to setup Windows Hello Face, fingerprint or PIN instead of traditional password. When the user turns on the device, he’ll not need to enter the account password, instead he can use Windows Hello functionality to sign in to his user account.

Advertisement

The problem (or feature by design) is that if the user enables this new passwordless sign-in feature or the feature is automatically activated in user’s device based on the device hardware, the “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer” checkbox is automatically removed or hidden from “control userpasswords2” or “netplwiz” programs.

So if you are not getting the above mentioned checkbox, it means passwordless sign-in feature is enabled in your device.

PROBLEM SOLUTION:

To fix this issue, you’ll need to deactivate and disable passwordless sign-in feature and it’ll immediately restore or add missing “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer” checkbox in “control userpasswords2” or “netplwiz” programs.

If you also want to bring back “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer” checkbox in Windows 10, following solutions will help you:

SOLUTION 1: Fix Using Windows 10 Settings App

You can turn off passwordless sign-in feature easily and quickly using Settings app as mentioned below:

1. Open Settings app from Start Menu. Alternatively, you can press WIN+I keys together to open Settings directly.

2. Now click on Accounts icon in Settings app and then click on Sign-in Options tab present in left-side pane.

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

3. In right-side pane, look for following option:

Require Windows Hello Sign-in for Microsoft Accounts

OR

Make your device passwordless

For improved security, only allow Windows Hello sign-in for Microsoft accounts on this device (Recommended)

If the option is set to ON, set the toggle button to OFF.

Disable_Passwordless_Signin_Windows_Hello_Feature_Windows_10_Settings.png

Now check “control userpasswords2” or “netplwiz” programs and you’ll get “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer” checkbox back.

PS: If you can’t see above mentioned option in Settings app, following registry method will help you.

SOLUTION 2: Fix Using Registry Editor

Some users will not see above mentioned option in Windows 10 Settings app due to missing or incompatible hardware drivers.

Don’t worry! You can take help of following registry tweak to restore “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer” checkbox:

1. Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box. Now type regedit and press Enter. It’ll open Registry Editor.

2. Now go to following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\PasswordLess\Device

3. In right-side pane, look for DevicePasswordLessBuildVersion DWORD.

The value of this DWORD would be set to 2 in your device.

Double-click on DevicePasswordLessBuildVersion and change its value to 0

Disable_Passwordless_Login_Windows_Hello_Feature_Windows_10_Registry_Editor.png

That’s it. Now open “control userpasswords2” or “netplwiz” programs and you’ll get “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer” checkbox back.

NOTE: If the checkbox doesn’t appear after editing Registry, restart your computer and it’ll appear now.

PS: If you don’t want to modify Registry Editor manually or if you can’t see above mentioned key in Registry, you can run following command in Command Prompt directly:

reg ADD "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\PasswordLess\Device" /v DevicePasswordLessBuildVersion /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

It’ll do the same job and bring back missing checkbox in Windows 10.

Big thanks to Winaero for finding the issue…

Also Check:

[Windows 10 Fix] “The User Name or Password is Incorrect” Error Message After Restart

[Tip] Enable or Disable Programs and Apps Automatically Restarting with Windows 10

[Fix] Windows 10 Not Asking for Password on Wake up from Sleep or Hibernate

Published in: Troubleshooting Guides, 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.

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. Registry fixed for me so didn’t test on cmd. Thank you very much!
    But just gonna use the cmd the next time cos that’s the easiest fix!

  2. Just want to say a huge thank you, just a simple little off button cured the windows log on problem, (for the administrator) . Chris

  3. I hope there’s a heaven for the good people who post on the internet quick and easy answers to computer problems ! With printers that work flawlessly and wifi that never drops. Thank you for this.

  4. If your computer has work access turned on or is joined to a domain, you need to also do the following: \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon – add a DWord called AutoAdminLogon and set the value to 1. Reboot.

  5. I’ve made all the changes noted in this thread. Nothing worked.
    Windows 10 Pro
    Version 21H2
    Installed on ‎4/‎8/‎2022
    OS build 19044.1586
    Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.4170.0

  6. Adding the registry key worked perfectly for me. After refreshing netplwiz the checkbox appeared.
    Windows 10 Pro, 21H2

  7. On 21H2 I can no longer get the checkbox back using the DevicePasswordLessBuildVersion registry key.

    However, the Autologon v3.10 tool from Microsoft’s Systinternals (docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autologon) seems to work, and the checkbox is back for me after I used the tool.

    My guess is that the checkbox is controlled by several registry keys now. After using the Autologon tool, my checkbox returned.

  8. Will I ever experience a time where people with computer blogs stop using blog functionality converting double quotes into stylized quotes, breaking their registry or whatever scripts all the time?

  9. Just wanted to say thanks for the article! The registry fix worked perfectly. I spent ages looking around at different sites, nothing told me how to make that checkbox appear again!

  10. Fantastic! I spent two days looking for a solution. Your solution worked like a charm. Thank you for publishing this great article.

  11. Thank You sooo much! it worked flawlessly. I searched for it a couple of times after searching with different I started to lose hope, but you saved me, thank you

  12. THANK YOU! I spent two days trying to solve this on my wife’s PC. Now I get breakfast in bed … lol!

  13. WOW thank you so much, I was searching for long and I couldn’t find anyone explaining how to solve the problem, thank you much, this was very helpful !!!!

  14. THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH .. couldnt find the box to remove my darn password.. this walkthrough saved me .. thank you thank you for the walk through on the registry stuff!!!

  15. Actually, this works, but it wipes out the whole page on windows 10 22h2, and all the settings are greyed out. You want to change it to 1, which worked for me.

  16. Thank you, the registry edit worked perfectly to get the checkbox back. Microsoft continues its tradition of removing ease of user control with every new iteration and update. Absolutely ridiculous to have to jump through hoops to make my PC operate as I want it to not despite the OS but because of it.

    Excellent guide, wish I would have found yours first (wasted lots of time elsewhere).

  17. I used the registry tweak on Windows 11 Pro 22H2, and it worked! Thanks for the guide, it really came in handy.

  18. Thank you! The OR option was not available for me but changing the registry helped. Ty

  19. Microsoft removed this option even in Windows Professional – changing the registry did the trick for me, but it’s just that they got rid of this perfectly fine and quite handy setting. Oh well.

  20. Thank you for taking the time to do this. I worked hours on this before finding this valuable information. Thank You so much!!!!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

NOTE: Your comment may not appear immediately. It'll become visible once we approve it.