Is there a way to “preselect” a certain user on the Windows 7 login screen?

Question

On one of my computers with Windows 7 I have a fairly long list of users, while I'm the only one using it locally with some regularity.
Is there any way to have a certain (or simply the last) user automatically be selected so I don't have to tab/mouse through the list every time the computer starts up?

Answer 1

This has been answered previously on social.technet.microsoft.com and unfortunately, the answer seems to be No.

Logon screen shows the user accounts in alphabetical order based on the names first given to the account when it is created. If you change the user account name later, it does no longer change the order accounts are presented. Reason is simple: even if you change the user account name later, the user account folder keeps the original name. Renaming the user subfolders in C:\Users does not change the situation.

What all this means is that you have to think the logon screen account order already when creating accounts.

Answer 2

What works fairly well for me now, is to have Windows "not display [the] last user name".
This way I'm simply asked to enter my username manually, which requires far fewer keypresses than navigating the list.

To change this setting (on Windows 7):

• Run %WinDir%\System32\gpedit.msc
• Navigate to Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options
• Enable "Interactive logon: Do not display last user name"