Setting up a Windows 10 account in your computer using a Microsoft account instead of a local account has become a standard, especially for home users. Using a Microsoft account allows users to synchronize their settings, documents, photos, and people across devices, and it’s also let users to get access to the Store to download and install new universal apps.

As you can see there are a number of benefits setting up your computer with a Microsoft account, but there is one caveat, Windows 10 displays your real name and email address in the Lock screen by default. Even though, the approach of displaying your information makes your computer more personal, it’s also a privacy concern for many users, as anyone on any place can easily figure out your name and email address.

Unfortunately, Windows 10 doesn’t provide any options in the Settings app to stop showing your real name or email address on Lock screen. But, if you really care about your privacy and you want to hide this information from the login screen, you can use a very easy workaround to accomplish the task.

Follow the steps below to remove your email address from the Lock screen in Windows 10:

How to remove name and email from Lock screen using Group Policy

  • Click on Start, do a search and open the Local Group Policy Editor.
  • Under the Local Computer Policy browse the following path:
  • Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options
  • Find and double-click to open the setting “Interactive logon: Do not display last user name”, choose Enable, then click Apply and OK.
  • While the previous step will remove your real name and email address from the login screen after boot, every time you lock your computer, Windows 10 will continue to display the current user information in the Lock screen, as such there is one more setting to configure. In the Security Options open “Interactive logon: Display user information when the session is locked” and select your preference from the drop-down menu. In my case I’ll choose to only display “User display name only”, then click Apply and OK.

How to remove name and email from Lock screen using the Registry

For Windows 10 Home users the process is a little different, as this version of the operating system doesn’t include support for Group Policy. If you are running Windows 10 Home, you will need to change the same setting but using the registry.

Click on Start, do a search and open the Local Group Policy Editor.

Under the Local Computer Policy browse the following path:

Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options

Find and double-click to open the setting “Interactive logon: Do not display last user name”, choose Enable, then click Apply and OK.

While the previous step will remove your real name and email address from the login screen after boot, every time you lock your computer, Windows 10 will continue to display the current user information in the Lock screen, as such there is one more setting to configure. In the Security Options open “Interactive logon: Display user information when the session is locked” and select your preference from the drop-down menu. In my case I’ll choose to only display “User display name only”, then click Apply and OK.

  • Click on Start, type regedit, and hit Enter to open the Registry.
  • Browse the following path:
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
  • Double-click to open the dontdisplaylastusername key and change the value from 0 to 1.
  • Double-click to open the DontDisplayLockedUserId key and change the value from 0 to 2.

Now, when you reboot your computer, your user information, including your email address will no longer be displayed in the Lock screen. This means that you will have to manually type your email address and password to sign into Windows 10 and unlocking your PC.

Click on Start, type regedit, and hit Enter to open the Registry.

Browse the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Double-click to open the dontdisplaylastusername key and change the value from 0 to 1.

Double-click to open the DontDisplayLockedUserId key and change the value from 0 to 2.

If you have other user accounts, those people will also have to manually enter their credentials, as none of the user information will be displayed on the Lock screen.

Would you like Microsoft to add different options for users decide whether to display email address and name from the Lock screen? Would you like to be able to display only a username as we’re used to see in previous versions? Let us know in the comments below.

Update, July 8, 2016: On the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, the operating system hides the email address on the Lock screen with a new “Show account details (e.g., email address) on sign-in screen” option located on Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options and under Privacy.