Category: Windows (Page 2 of 5)

Hide a Local User Account from the Sign-In Screen in Windows 11 by GUI or by Powershell Admin/Script

Overview

This guide explains how to create or use a local Windows 11 user account while hiding it from the login screen, so that the account remains active and accessible (by name/password), but does not appear among visible users at sign-in. The script near the end after the GUI steps will make this faster.

NOTE: The script is untested as of 6-20-25 because I don’t have time but from the looks of it seems pretty good. Definitely test on a throwaway vm before deploying the script please. – Andrae

This will be good for hiding the Scanning user especially, attention raised from Tavros #3583 where staff was concerned about having this extra user installed for no clear reason. We can use this to hide service accounts as needed so it doesn’t become a concern for anyone that might be a little more tech-fearful or just wants more cleanliness.

🔒 Who This Is For

• Administrators creating service, support, or maintenance accounts.
• Users who want to keep an account functional but discreet (not visible to regular users).

✅ Requirements

• You must be logged in with an administrator account.
• Be comfortable using the Registry Editor (regedit.exe).
• 👇 (Optional) Backup your registry or create a System Restore point.

🧰 Step-by-Step Guide

1. Open Registry Editor

• Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter.

2. Navigate to This Key

CopyEditHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\
 SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\
 CurrentVersion\Winlogon

3. Create Required Subkeys

• Right-click Winlogon ➜ New ➜ Key, name it SpecialAccounts.
• Under SpecialAccounts, create another key named UserList.

4. Add the User to Hide

• Select UserList.
• In the right pane, right-click ➜ New ➜ DWORD (32-bit) Value.
• Name it exactly as the local user account (e.g., SupportUser).
• Set its value to:
  • 0 to hide the account
  • 1 (or delete the entry) to show it againumatechnology.org+11wintips.org+11thewindowsclub.com+11elevenforum.comthewindowsclub.comtechdirectarchive.com+3woshub.com+3umatechnology.org+3

5. Restart Windows

• Logs off or reboot the PC to apply changes.
• The specified user will no longer appear on the Windows 11 login screen, although the account is still active with its password intactwintips.org+1umatechnology.org+1.

🔄 Unhide or Re-enable an Account

• To undo, open the same registry location and either:
  1. Set the user’s DWORD value to 1, or
  2. Delete the DWORD entry.
• Restart the computer to make it visible againelevenforum.com+8answers.microsoft.com+8woshub.com+8superuser.com+2checksomebytes.com+20xjamesli.com+2.

🔔 Important Notes

• Account remains usable: Users can still log on if they manually type the account name and password (e.g. via `Ctrl+Alt+Del ➜ “Other User”)superuser.com+20xjamesli.com+2wintips.org+2.
• Does not increase security: This is an obscurity measure, not real protection—admins with registry or local privileges can still see and modify hidden accounts.
• Admin account caution: If you hide the only admin-level account, consider having another visible admin available to avoid lockout0xjamesli.com+4checksomebytes.com+4wintips.org+4.

👥 Alternative Methods

🔍 Troubleshooting

• Registry path must be exact, including spelling and capitalization.
• Ensure the username matches exactly (including spaces or symbols).
• If changes aren’t immediate, reboot.
• If locked out of admin rights, you can still revert using runas from a standard accountanswers.microsoft.com+1superuser.com+1.

✅ Summary

To hide an active local user account from the Windows 11 sign-in screen:

1. Use Registry Editor to add a DWORD under:CopyEditHKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList
2. Name it after the user and set the value to 0.
3. Restart the computer.
4. To unhide, change value to 1 or delete it.

This method effectively hides the account from the login UI, while preserving its functionality—useful for behind-the-scenes or admin accounts.

📚 Sources

• WinTips.org guide on hiding accounts via registrychecksomebytes.com+11wintips.org+11woshub.com+110xjamesli.com+3superuser.com+3woshub.com+3umatechnology.org+6thewindowsclub.com+6woshub.com+6elevenforum.com+2woshub.com+2techdirectarchive.com+2
• Microsoft Q&A confirmation of registry keys
• Windows OS Hub article on UserList DWORDstechdirectarchive.com+9woshub.com+9answers.microsoft.com+9
• James Li’s guide noting instant effect0xjamesli.com

Let me know if you’d like screenshots, automation scripts, or batch commands to make this process even easier!

Sources

You said:

A powershell script to do this even quicker would be awesome if you’ve got it.

ChatGPT said:

Here’s a PowerShell script that automates hiding (or unhiding) a local user account from the Windows 11 login screen by updating the registry:

powershellCopyEdit<#
 .SYNOPSIS
   Hide or show a local user account on the login screen (Windows 10/11).
 .PARAMETER Username
   Name of the local user account to toggle.
 .PARAMETER Hide
   Specify $true to hide the account, $false to show (or remove) it.
 .EXAMPLE
   .\HideLocalUser.ps1 -Username "ServiceAccount" -Hide $true
#>

param(
  [Parameter(Mandatory)][string]$Username,
  [Parameter()][bool]$Hide = $true
)

$regPath = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserList"

# Ensure the key path exists
if (-not (Test-Path $regPath)) {
    New-Item -Path $regPath -Force | Out-Null
}

# Set DWORD to 0 to hide, 1 (or delete) to show
if ($Hide) {
    New-ItemProperty -Path $regPath -Name $Username -PropertyType DWORD -Value 0 -Force | Out-Null
    Write-Output "✅ '$Username' is now hidden from the login screen."
} else {
    # Option A: Set value to 1
    if (Get-ItemProperty -Path $regPath -Name $Username -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) {
        Remove-ItemProperty -Path $regPath -Name $Username -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
    }
    Write-Output "✅ '$Username' is now visible on the login screen."
}

📌 How to Use

1. Save the above script as HideLocalUser.ps1.
2. Open PowerShell as Administrator.
3. Run to hide:powershellCopyEdit.\HideLocalUser.ps1 -Username "YourUserName" -Hide $true
4. Or run to unhide:powershellCopyEdit.\HideLocalUser.ps1 -Username "YourUserName" -Hide $false
5. Reboot the PC to apply the changes and refresh the sign-in screen.

🧠 How It Works

• It uses PowerShell’s registry provider to create the key and DWORD entry in:
  HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\SpecialAccounts\UserListtechdirectarchive.com+11techssh.com+11github.com+11learn.microsoft.com+2wintips.org+2superuser.com+2.
• A value of 0 hides the account; removing the entry (or setting it to 1) makes it visible againchecksomebytes.com+1superuser.com+1.
• This leverages the same registry settings used by the manual method, wrapped in an easy-to-use script .

✅ Bonus Tip

To quickly hide built-in or admin accounts, you can edit the script like this (no prompts):

powershellCopyEdit.\HideLocalUser.ps1 -Username "Administrator" -Hide $true

Great for service or admin user automation.