One of the first things that I configure on a new personal computer that only I use is the automatic log on. This bypasses the Windows logon screen completely to load the operating system directly. Handy for single user systems, not so much for multi-user systems.
Windows 8 in this regard works much like Windows 7. It is still possible to configure a user account to automatically log on. Here is how.
Start Windows 8 and log into the user account. You are taken to the Metro UI start screen. Enter netplwiz and hit enter. This should open the User Accounts screen on the Desktop.
Here you see a list of all user accounts known on the system.
Locate the “Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer” box at the top and uncheck it. Click the Ok button. This triggers a prompt where you need to enter the password for the username.
Just enter your password and the password confirmation in the prompt that opens. Windows “saves” that password for you, so that you do not have to enter it anymore during log on.
A click on OK completes the process. I suggest you restart the computer afterwards to see if the log on is indeed bypassed.
If it is not, you may need to open the User Accounts screen again to verify that the changes have been properly saved.
If you bypass Metro UI automatically, you can open the User Accounts configuration screen with the shortcut Win-R and entering netplwiz in the run box.
Please note that anyone using the computer from that moment on can log on with the user account, as no password is required to do so. This makes it a security issue on multi-user systems. (via)
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That’s an interesting one, nice. Thank you!
Worked perfectly was looking for it thanks a lot
It had been almost a year since I did this last in Win7 and I had hoped Microsoft would make this more intuitive in Win8. I really appreciate you posting this. Now I’m enjoying Win8 even more!
Where to enter netplwiz? Log in and enter: netplwiz???
Awesome! I’ve been looking for this for a while.
It’s great information! But what about the security issue? This authentication is not save at all.
That’s right. This is useful if you are working alone on the computer. Keep in mind though that log in protection is not that strong either.
Do you know how to get it to not require me to enter a password after I resume from sleeping or from a screen saver. The normal “on resume display login screen” checkbox is grayed out.