How to Disable the Windows 11 Lock Screen and Boot Directly to the Login Prompt

When you turn on a Windows 11 computer, the operating system pauses the boot process to display the “Lock Screen” (the screen featuring the clock, the date, and a beautiful background image). To actually reach the login prompt where you type your password, you must click your mouse or press a key on your keyboard.

For tablet users, this swipe-to-unlock gesture makes sense to prevent accidental pocket dials. For desktop users with a physical keyboard, this extra screen is a completely unnecessary aesthetic roadblock that wastes a click every single morning.

You can permanently disable this decorative screen and force Windows 11 to boot directly to the password prompt.

How to Disable the Lock Screen via Registry Editor

Because Microsoft removed the easy toggle for this setting in Windows 11 Home edition, the most universal method is to modify the Registry.

1. Click the Start button, type regedit, and press Enter to launch the Registry Editor. (Click Yes on the administrative prompt).
2. In the left-hand navigation pane, carefully expand the folders to navigate to the following path:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows

3. Right-click on the Windows folder, select New, and click Key.
4. Name this newly created folder exactly Personalization and press Enter. (If the Personalization folder already exists, simply click it and skip to Step 5).
5. Click on your Personalization folder so it is highlighted.
6. Right-click the empty white space on the right side of the window, select New, and click DWORD (32-bit) Value.
7. Name this new value exactly NoLockScreen and press Enter.
8. Double-click your new NoLockScreen entry.
9. Change the “Value data” from 0 to 1.
10. Click OK.

You can now safely close the Registry Editor.

The Result

The changes take effect immediately. To test it, simply lock your computer by pressing Windows Key + L (or reboot your machine entirely).

You will completely bypass the clock and the date screen. Your monitor will instantly display the stark login prompt with the blinking cursor sitting perfectly inside the password box, ready for you to type immediately.