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

Recently one AskVG reader contacted me regarding this issue. He was using Sleep or Hibernate option to turn off his Windows 10 device and whenever he was resuming the device from standby, Windows 10 was not asking for any password. The computer was directly logging into Desktop. It was a high security and privacy issue as anyone could access his computer without requiring the user account password to enter at startup.

By default, when a Windows 10 device is resumed from sleep or hibernate, the device requires the user account password on wake up. Once the user enters correct password, he is able to sign into Desktop.

Today in this tutorial, I’ll tell you how to enable or disable “Require password on wake up” feature in Windows 10. You can force Windows 10 to prompt for user account password on wake up or you can allow Windows 10 to go straight to the Desktop without requiring any password on wake up.

Following are a few methods to turn on or off password requirement on wake up in Windows 10 operating system:

METHOD 1: Using Windows 10 Settings app

1. Open Settings app from Start Menu or by pressing WIN+I keys together.

2. Now go to “Accounts -> Sign-in options” section.

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 “Require sign-in” section. It contains only one option “If you’ve been away, when should Windows require you to sign in again?“.

If you want to force Windows 10 to ask for password on wake up from sleep or hibernate, select “When PC wakes up from sleep” option from the drop-down box.

If you want to prevent/restrict Windows 10 from asking for password on wake up from sleep or hibernate, select “Never” option from the drop-down box.

That’s it.

METHOD 2: Using Group Policy Editor

1. Press WIN+R keys together to launch RUN dialog box. Now type gpedit.msc and press Enter. It’ll open Group Policy Editor.

2. Now go to:

3. In right-side pane, look for following 2 options:

To enable password on wake up, double-click on both options one by one and set their values to Enabled.

To disable password on wake up, double-click on both options one by one and set their values to Disabled.

That’s it.

METHOD 3: Using Registry Editor

If you are using Home edition of Windows, you’ll not be able to run gpedit.msc command because this edition doesn’t come with Group Policy Editor.

If you can’t use or don’t want to use Group Policy Editor, you can take help of Registry Editor for the same task. Just follow these simple steps:

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:

3. Create a new key under Microsoft key and set its name as Power

4. Create another new key under Power key and set its name as PowerSettings

5. Create another new key under PowerSettings key and set its name as 0e796bdb-100d-47d6-a2d5-f7d2daa51f51

6. Now select 0e796bdb-100d-47d6-a2d5-f7d2daa51f51 key and in right-side pane, create following 2 DWORDs:

ACSettingIndex

DCSettingIndex

To enable password requirement on wake up, set both DWORDs value to 1

To disable password requirement on wake up, set both DWORDs value to 0

That’s it.

METHOD 4: Using Command Prompt

1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator using any method given here.

2. Now run following commands:

To enable password requirement on wake up:

To disable password requirement on wake up:

That’s it.

METHOD 5: Using Power Options

This method will work in older Windows 10 versions and Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1:

1. Open Power Options from Control Panel. You can also open Power Options using Win+X Menu or using powercfg.cpl command in RUN dialog box.

2. Now click on “Require a password on wakeup” link given in left-side pane.

3. Now click on “Change settings that are currently unavailable” link given at the top.

4. To enable password requirement on wake up, select “Require a password (recommended)” option. To disable password requirement on wake up, select “Don’t require a password” option.

At last click on “Save changes” button.

That’s it.

Also Check:

How to Add Missing Hibernate Option to Windows 8 and Windows 10 Power Menu

Fix Restart and Shutdown Problems in Windows 8 and Windows 10 by Disabling Fast Startup Feature

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