Show when you last signed in (and failed attempts) — via Microsoft Learn

Group Policylow riskNeeds adminProEnterpriseEducationWindows 11Windows 10

After signing in, Windows can show the date and time of your last successful sign-in and of any failed attempts since — a simple way to notice someone trying your password.

Sign out and back in

How to do it

Open gpedit.msc, go to the path above and set it to Enabled. Set it to Not Configured to undo.

Group Policy

Open gpedit.msc (Pro, Enterprise and Education only) and go to:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Logon Options > Display information about previous logons during user logon

The policy is stored as DisplayLastLogonInfo under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System. The message must be acknowledged before the desktop appears. Microsoft warns that for domain accounts in domains below the Windows Server 2008 functional level, users can't sign in with this on — fine for local and Microsoft accounts.

last logonfailed sign-insecuritylogon

Sign in automatically with Microsoft's Autologon tool — via Mark Russinovich, Microsoft Sysinternals

Trickhigh riskAdmin

For a kiosk, media PC or test machine that should boot straight to the desktop, Sysinternals Autologon sets up Windows' built-in automatic sign-in and stores the password encrypted, rather than in plain text in the registry as old guides do.

Force the next boots into Safe Mode (and back) — via Microsoft Learn

Commandmedium riskAdmin

When a bad driver or app makes Windows unusable, Safe Mode starts with only basic drivers. You can make Windows keep booting into Safe Mode until you switch it back — the same thing msconfig's Safe boot box does.

Show the sign-in background sharp instead of blurred — via Microsoft Learn

Group Policylow riskAdminPro / Enterprise / Education

Windows blurs ("acrylic") the lock-screen picture behind the sign-in box. This policy shows it clear instead.