Separate user profiles and defined group policies help different Windows users work on the same machine while saving their files and preferences under different accounts. They offer enterprises and individuals greater flexibility and privacy when multiple users need to use the same device. However, like all safeguards, they can cause trouble from time to time.

Windows 10 will not show user account logins if you have not set up the correct group policies and system registries. However, software updates and glitches can cause such issues even if you’ve done everything correctly.

Why Local Login Accounts Might Not Appear

If you cannot log into your profile, you lose access to your files and all the work you’ve saved on the machine. This can be frustrating and result in many lost hours.

But before you solve the problem, you’ll want to know why it is happening.

Group Policy Settings

Windows group policies help you define access and set up preferences for different users on the same machine using Group Policy Settings, Group Policy Preferences, and the Group Policy Editor. Together, they help you define the software environment each user can access.

These settings can be used to add or remove user accounts and deny particular users access. If you or anyone else has removed User Account Logins by editing group policies, you will not see the accounts at login.

System Registry Files

While users make changes to user accounts using group policy, these changes are recorded by your computer in the form of registry files.

They can also be edited the same way. In other words, the system registry files can make all of the changes described in the earlier section.

For the same reason, if you or anyone else who uses the machine has modified the relevant registry files, you may not see user account logins when your computer boots.

Note, however, that registry files are not exclusively used to record changes to group policies or user accounts. They may also record the following:

Information on installed applications
Properties of individual files, folders, and applications
Software configurations
Information about open ports

So, not all changes to registry files will affect user account settings. So, proceed with caution when changing registry files. You do not want to create new problems elsewhere when attempting to solve your account login headache.

Updates and Viruses

If you’ve not made any changes to either your group policy or registry files and your Windows 10 system isn’t showing user account logins at start-up, your computer may be infected.

While updates should not mess with your settings and preferences, sped-up product cycles mean that software updates are often released quickly these days. Many times, users download and install these updates before extensive testing has been carried out. So bugs are common.

In other cases, developers may have no choice but to make large changes to their code, which can have unintended consequences in some areas. Usually, untested releases may be put out as beta updates with the appropriate warning, but this does not always happen. Once again, bugs are a routine occurrence.

Alternatively, viruses and hackers may have taken control of your system and made undesirable changes you must address. In this case, missing user accounts may be the least of your concerns. You’ll be more concerned about missing or stolen data, corrupted files, etc.

Either way, there are several measures you can take to solve the problem. Let’s consider some of these fixes next.

Five Fixes For Missing Windows 10 Local Account Logins

Here are five ways to fix your missing Windows user account logins.

1. Manually Enable the Missing User Accounts

The first thing to try if individual user account logins are not showing up in your Windows 10 is to enable the accounts that have been disabled manually.

To do so, follow these steps:

Hold down the Windows and X keys on your keyboard to open the quick link menu (it should appear at the bottom left corner of your screen).
Select “Computer Management.”
From the panel on the left of the new window, expand “Local Users and Groups.”
Double-click on the “Users” folder under “Local Users and Groups.”
All the user accounts created on your machine should be visible in the panel on the right.
Accounts marked with a downward-turned arrow are disabled.
To enable any individual account manually, right-click on it and select the “Properties” option from the contextual menu that is revealed.
In the “General” tab, uncheck “Account is disabled.”
Click on “Apply” followed by “OK” to save these changes.
Perform the same action for any additional missing accounts you would like to restore.
When finished, sign out from the current user account.
Restart your computer and see if the relevant user accounts are now showing.

In most cases, this should resolve the issue. If it doesn’t, move on to the next step.

2. Edit the Group Policy

As explained earlier, another reason individual user accounts may not show up is if the group policy has not been set correctly. To resolve this problem follow these steps:

Hold down the Windows and R keys on your keyboard to open a Run dialogue box.
Type in “gpedit.msc” to open the Group Policy Editor.
Double-click “Computer Configuration” in the right panel of the open “Group Policy Editor” window.
Navigate to Administrative Templates > System > Logon.
In the right-hand-side panel, scroll down to “Enumerate Local Users on Domain-Joined Computers” and double-click on it.
A new window should open, showing options of “Not Configured,” “Enabled,” and “Disabled.”
If it is not already selected, check the “Enabled” option and click on “OK” to save the change.
Back in the “Group Policy Editor” window, scroll further down the list of options in the right-hand-side panel and double-click on the “Hide Entry Points for Fast User Switching” option.
In the new window that opens, ensure that the “Hide Entry Points for Fast User Switching” option is not enabled.
Repeat these actions for any other missing user accounts and save the changes before closing the “Group Policy Editor” window.
Log out of your account and reboot your system.

If the problem persists, you can try making a few additional changes to the group policy to see if they help.

To enable the ‘Enumerate Local Users on Domain-Joined Computers’ option:

Open the “Group Policy Editor” window as described above.
Navigate to Administrative Templates > System > Logon.
Double-click on “Enumerate Local Users on Domain-Joined Computers” and enable it.
Back in the “Group Policy Editor” window, scroll further down the list of options in the right-hand-side panel and double-click on “Hide Entry Points for Fast User Switching.”
Ensure that the “Hide Entry Points for Fast User Switching” option is not enabled.
Close the “Group Policy Editor” window.
Log out of your account and reboot your system.

To modify security options, follow these steps:

Open the “Group Policy Editor” window as described above.
Navigate to Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options.
Double-click on “Interactive Logon: Don’t Display Last Signed-in” and enable it.
Log out of your account and reboot your system.

If the problem persists, try these steps:

Navigate to Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options in the “Computer Configuration” window of the Group Policy Editor.
Double-click on “Interactive logon: Display User Information When the Session is Locked.”
Select “Do not Display User Information” from the drop-down menu.
Press “Apply” followed by “OK.”

Enable “Interactive Logon: Do not Display Last User Name.”
Close Group Policy Editor and reboot.

Finally, you can also try editing the Windows logon options in the group policy editor by following these steps:

Hold down the Windows and R keys on your keyboard to open a Run dialogue box
Type in “gpedit.msc” to open the Group Policy Editor
Double-click on the “Computer Configuration” option in the right panel of the open “Group Policy Editor” window
Navigate to Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Logon Options
Double-click on “Sign-in and Lock Last Interactive User Automatically After a Restart” and enable it.
Alternatively, if it is already enabled, disable it.
Close Group Policy Editor and reboot.

If that doesn’t resolve your issue, move on down the list.

3. Assign Users to the Administrator Group

If a software glitch has removed individual user accounts from the login screen, you can try assigning those users to the administrative group to see if this solves the problem.

To do this:

Go to Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > User Accounts.
Select “Manage User Accounts” to view a list of user accounts.
Select the individual user account that is not showing up and click on “Properties.”
If the “Group Membership” tab is set to “Standard,” change it to “Administrator.”
Click Apply followed by OK.
Repeat the same steps for the remaining user accounts that you wish to restore and save the changes.
Log out of your account and restart your PC.

The missing user accounts should now appear.

4. Edit Registry

Another way to restore missing user accounts is to enable them via the registry files. To do so, follow these steps:

Press the Windows key to open the “Start” menu.
Type in “regedit” and press enter to open the “Registry Editor” window.
In the dialogue window, select “Run as administrator.”
In the “Registry Editor” window, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > Software > Microsoft > WindowsNT > CurrentVersion > Winlogon > SpecialAccounts.
In the SpecialAccounts drop-down menu, click on UserList.
Look for your missing accounts in the right-hand-side panel and delete the relevant entries.
Reboot your system.

If your problem is not solved, try making a few more registry edits to solve the problem.

To disable HideFastUserSwitching:

In the “Registry Editor” window, navigate to Computer > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Policies > System.
Double-click on HideFastUserSwitching and set its value to 0.
Reboot your computer.

To disable the DontDisplayLastUserName registry:

Navigate to Computer > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Policies > System.
Double-click on DontDisplayLastUserName and set its value to 0.
Reboot your computer.

To delete corrupt profiles:

Navigate to Computer > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > ProfileList.
Reveal all the keys saved under the Profile List by clicking on it.
Select each key to confirm that they each have a ProfileImagePath entry in the right-hand-side panel.
Delete any key that does not have this entry.
Reboot your computer.

Finally, if none of these steps resolve your issue, try deleting all group policy registry keys. To do so:

Navigate to Computer > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > Software > Policies > Microsoft.
Right-click on the “Microsoft” folder in the left panel and delete it.
Navigate to Computer > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > Software > Policies > Microsoft.
Right-click on the “Microsoft” folder in the left panel and delete it.
Navigate to Computer > HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Group Policy Objects.
Select the “Group Policy Objects” folder and delete it.
Navigate to Computer > HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Policies.
Right-click the “Policies” folder and delete it.
Reboot your computer.

Remember to back up your registry files before you begin this process and proceed with extreme caution. Editing registry files incorrectly can cause serious issues elsewhere.

If you are a novice user and unsure how registries work, I recommend not tampering with these files yourself and getting someone more experienced to do this for you.

5. Disable Fast Start-Up

To disable fast start-up follow these instructions:

Press the Windows key on your keyboard and search for Power Options.
Select “Power & Sleep Options” from the contextual menu.
Click on Additional Power Settings.
Select Choose What the Power Buttons do.
Choose the “Change Settings That Are Currently Unavailable” option.
Uncheck Turn on Fast Startup.
Save changes and reboot.

See if your user accounts are now visible at startup.