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If you have more than one user on your PC or share it with a family member, you likely have to log out and in a lot. Microsoft has kept this in mind, adding a switch user in Windows 10 option that’s known as fast user switching.
The interface can be accessed on most PC’s by clicking the profile icon, via the “ALT + F4” hotkey or via the Windows 10 lock screen. Some users find that the Windows 10 switch user option is missing. This often happens because someone has disabled the feature, and there are some good reasons for doing so.
While fast user switching is useful, you can run into problems when trying to shut your PC down or run software that is already active on the other account. Fast user switching performance is also a topic of hot debate, with signed-in accounts sometimes still using CPU and RAM.
As a result, we’re going to show you how to disable fast user switching, but we’ll also cover enabling it if Windows 10 switch user is missing.
How to Disable Fast User Switching or Enable it with the Local Group Policy Editor
If you have Windows 10 Pro or Enterprise and are wondering how to disable fast user switching, look no further than the local group policy editor. This is by far the easiest method but Windows 10 Home users will need to look elsewhere.
- Open the Local Group Policy Editor
Press the “Windows” key and type “gpedit”, then click “Edit Group Policy”.
- Find the Windows 10 fast user switching policy
In the Local Group Policy Editor sidebar, navigate toComputer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Logon. Double-click the policy in the main pane named “Hide entry points for Fast User Switching”.
- Disable fast user switching or turn it on
In the group policy editing window, set “Hide Entry Points for Fast User Switching” to one of the following:
Enabled = to disable the switch user
Disabled = to enable the menu if Windows 10 switch user is missing
Not Configured = to follow the system defaults
Make sure you read the help section before making a decision, then click “OK”. Restart your PC or the Explorer process.
How to Enable or Disable Fast User Switching with Regedit
Unfortunately, Windows 10 Home users have no option other than making changes to the registry if they want to disable or enable switch user in Windows 10. It’s up to you if you do this via the manual method below or the faster command prompt method further down.
- Open the Registry Editor
Press “Windows +R” and type “regedit” in the dialog box, then press “OK”.
- Navigate to the Policies key to disable fast switching for the current user
PasteComputer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Systeminto your address bar and press “Enter”.
- Create a new registry key
Right-click the empty space and choose “New > Key”.
- Name the folder “System”
- Create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value in the System key
To do so, right-click the empty space in the empty pane and choose “New > DWORD (32-bit) value”.
- Name the DWORD “HideFastUserSwitching”
- Enable or disable fast user switching for the current user
Double-click your new DWORD and change the value data to “1” to hide the switch user option, or “0” to force it to display. Restart your PC or the Explorer process.
- Navigate to the policy key for the entire machine
You’ll find it atComputer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System.
- Create a new DWORD
Right-click the empty space in the empty pane and choose “New > DWORD (32-bit) value”.
- Name the DWORD “HideFastUserSwitching”
- Enable or disable fast user switching for all users
Double-click your new DWORD and change the value data to “1” to hide the switch user option, or “0” to force it to display. Restart your PC or the Explorer process.
How to Enable or Disable Switch User in Windows 10 via CMD
Alternatively, you can use a series of combined commands in Command Prompt to delete or add the relevant registry keys, then restart Explorer.exe so you can apply the changes without a restart.
- Open Command Prompt
Press the “Windows” key, type cmd, and then click “Run as Admin” next to the Command Prompt entry.
- Enter the enable or disable switch user menu command
To disable the fast user switching interface, paste the following command by copying it and then right-clicking in CMD. Then, press “Enter”.powershell -windowstyle hidden -command "Start-Process cmd -ArgumentList '/s,/c,REG ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /V HideFastUserSwitching /T REG_DWORD /D 00000001 /F & REG Delete HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /V HideFastUserSwitching /F & taskkill /f /im explorer.exe & start explorer.exe' -Verb runAs"
To enable it, copy the following command, right-click to paste into CMD, then press “Enter”.powershell -windowstyle hidden -command "Start-Process cmd -ArgumentList '/s,/c,REG Delete HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /V HideFastUserSwitching /F & REG Delete HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /V HideFastUserSwitching /F & taskkill /f /im explorer.exe & start explorer.exe' -Verb runAs"
If you found this tutorial useful, consider reading our guides on how to disable the lock screen and how to configure secure sign-in.
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