Windows 10 comes with fast user switching enabled, so that you can easily switch user accounts, while you’ve more than one user account on system. This means you don’t need to sign out first and then sign in to another account. You can simply switch to another account by click on your user account picture/profile picture on Start Menu (refer below image). In this article, we’ll see how to enable/disable fast user switching in Windows 10.

How To Manage Fast User Switching In Windows 10

Fast user switching may affect the shut down ability with ease, because if you kept sign in into first account and you switch to second account and if you attempt to shut down, you may receive ‘Someone else is still using this PC’ message. For any other anonymous reason, if you want to disable fast user switching, which is enabled by default, here is how you can.

How To Enable/Disable Fast User Switching In Windows 10

Enable Or Disable Fast User Switching Using Registry

Registry Disclaimer: The further steps will involve registry manipulation. Making mistakes while manipulating registry could affect your system adversely. So be careful while editing registry entries and create a System Restore point first.

1. Press W8K + R and put regedit in Run dialog box to open Registry Editor (if you’re not familiar with Registry Editor, then click here). Click OK.

Windows 10 Registry Editor

2. In left pane of Registry Editor window, navigate to following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies

How To Manage Fast User Switching In Windows 10

3. In the left pane of the above shown window, right click Policies registry key and select New > Key. Name the newly created registry key as System. In the right pane of System registry key (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System), right click and select New > DWORD Value. Name the newly created registry DWORD (REG_DWORD) as HideFastUserSwitching. Double click on this DWORD to modify its Value data.

How To Manage Fast User Switching In Windows 10

4. Use 0 as the Value data to enable fast user switching, whereas using 1 as Value data will disable fast user switching. Click OK.

How To Manage Fast User Switching In Windows 10

5. Right click on System registry and select Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. Now make sure same value for HideFastUserSwitching registry DWORD exists at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System.

Close Registry Editor. Reboot to make changes effective.

Enable Or Disable Fast User Switching Using Group Policy

FYI: GPO snap-in is not available in Windows 10 Home editions. If you’re on Windows 10 Home and want to use Group Policy, go here and upgrade to Pro edition.

1. Press W8K + R and put gpedit.msc in Run dialog box to open Local Group Policy Editor. Click OK.

Local Group Policy Editor

2. Next, in the GPO snap-in window, navigate here:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Logon

How To Manage Fast User Switching In Windows 10

3. In the right pane of Logon, look for the Hide entry points for Fast User Switching setting. Double click on it and set it to Enabled to disable fast user switching. Click Apply followed by OK.

How To Manage Fast User Switching In Windows 10

4. Close the Group Policy Editor snap-in and restart the computer to make changes effective.

How To Manage Fast User Switching In Windows 10

So this is how you can manage fast user switching in Windows 10.

Hope you find the article useful!

Read next: Can’t switch users in Windows 10.

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