How to Disable the Lock Screen on Your Chromebook (Log in Faster!)

So, you want to disable the lock screen on your Chromebook.

Maybe you never take your Chromebook out of your home, so you don’t need the screen to lock every time you grab something from the fridge.

Or maybe you’re just annoyed about having to type in your long Google Account password every time you wake up your Chromebook.

Whatever the case, you’ve come to the right place.

I’ll go ahead and discuss a few different settings you can adjust on your Chromebook just to make this a little easier and more practical for you to save you some time.

(And that time save should really add up.)

Sound good? Let’s get started.

Last updated: 9/7/19.

How do I remove the password screen when I turn on my Chromebook?

This is probably one of the most asked questions by readers here on PlatypusPlatypus, so I thought I’d go ahead and address it.

There is no way to directly remove or take off the password on your Chromebook- there are only ways to “get around” it indirectly.

This involves various means that trade security for convenience, so you’ll want to browse through all the methods to see which one works best for you.

Yes, it’s possible to never have to type in your password on your Chromebook (we’ll cover how), but you’ll have to use some unique settings to do so.

And you should probably be sure that you’re in a secure location (such as your home) before you do this kind of stuff.

You also may want to check out this tutorial on logging in to your Chromebook without a password.

How do I get rid of the login screen on my Chromebook?

You can’t necessarily remove the password login screen (AKA, “lock screen”) when you power up your Chromebook from a full shutdown.

However, you can remove the lock screen when you boot up your laptop from sleep mode.

This way, you can just flip open the lid and go back to doing whatever you were doing last without having to type in your password again.

This is useful if you work on stuff and have to step away or constantly be on-the-go.

For example, if you’re working on your Chromebook for one class, then it’s time to go to your next class and you close the lid.

When you sit down in the next class and flip open your Chromebook’s lid, you’ll be right where you left off- without having to type in your password again!

Of course, this may not be the most secure approach as if someone were to steal your laptop or you were to misplace it, this may not end well.

But then again, that’s for you to decide.

Always take precautions and exercise common sense!

So anyway, to remove the lock screen/password prompt when you turn on your Chromebook from sleep, all you’ll need to do is toggle a built-in option to Chrome OS.

Here’s how:

1. Launch Chrome.
2. Type in “chrome://settings” and hit Enter for the URL.
3. Go to the “People” section.
4. Go to “Screen lock” and log in with your credentials if it prompts you to.
5. Toggle the option “Show lock screen when waking from sleep” to OFF.
6. Exit the page.

That’s it.

The next time your Chromebook sleeps and you wake it up again, you won’t have to type in your password and you’ll bypass the lock screen.

Awesome, right?

Sleep vs. shutdown – They’re different things

Remember that sleep mode doesn’t mean shutdown mode- they’re two different things.

• Sleep mode is when the Chromebook saves the current session and goes to sleep so you can quickly continue where you left off the next time you boot it up.
• Shutdown is when the system completely shuts down the session and the next time you log back on will be from scratch (i.e. a cold boot).

This method will allow your device to enter sleep mode to conserve your battery, while not asking for you to log in each time you boot it up again.

But if this doesn’t work for you, keep reading for more alternatives.

What about Guest mode?

This is probably the easiest way to get back onto your Chromebook without needing a password (or even a Google account).

Simply click the “Guest mode” button on the login screen to sign in quickly.

This is useful if your Chromebook locked on you while you were idle, or if you just don’t have the time to punch in your details. Or maybe you just want to look something up quickly and then shut it back down.

Whatever the case, you can just log in as a Guest, which will basically let you browse the web to do whatever you need to do- quickly.

Browsing as a Guest doesn’t save any of your history in the browser, nor does it let you make any changes to the Chromebook.

You’ll have no admin privileges, so being a “Guest” is literally using the device as a Guest.

But on the plus side, you definitely don’t need to type any credentials to use it. Think of it as the “incognito mode” of using a Chromebook.

Or you can disable sleep mode to disable the lock screen

This is the other option you have to to keep your Chromebook from locking itself and forcing you to type in a password.

Suppose you want to keep the password entry every time you wake up your laptop from sleep mode (so you stay secure), but you don’t want to type it in each time you’re actively using your Chromebook.

• Maybe you step away from your Chromebook at home often.
• Or maybe you use your Chromebook as a secondary device and you want to stop it from locking itself over and over.
• Or perhaps you only use your device at home and you don’t want to type in a password every single time.

Do any of these scenarios sound like you?

Are you tired of constantly having to type in your credentials every time?

Especially when you’re just at home, where you’re probably more secure than anywhere else on the planet?

Well, then you could probably just disable sleep mode.

Chromebooks will ask you to enter your password every time you wake it up from sleep mode by default.

But…

If your Chromebook can’t enter sleep mode, then how can it ask you for your credentials when you wake it up?

Here’s how you can disable sleep mode on your device:

Step 1: Login to your Google Account and sign in to your Chromebook

Step 2: Launch Chrome.

Step 3: Type in “chrome://settings” and hit Enter.

Step 4: Scroll down to “Device” on the Settings menu.

Step 5: Click on “Power.”

Step 6: Look at the “When idle” line and click on the dropdown menu on the right (it should say “Sleep” by default.

Step 7: Choose “Keep display on” or “Turn off display.”

That’s it.

Now your Chromebook will stay awake with either of those options selected.

Note that actions like playing a game, music, or video will keep your Chromebook awake and prevent sleep mode regardless.

Preventing your Chromebook from sleeping means never typing in a password!

So if you stop your Chromebook from going to sleep, you’ll technically never have to enter your password when you want to use it again.

Of course, you’d only want to do this in a secure location.

Note: This may not work on Chromebooks enrolled in school or work network. If you see the option grayed-out, it means that this feature is disabled.

You can try to reset your managed Chromebook if you bought your laptop used and it just so happens to be enrolled.

This has pros and cons:

Pros

• Useful if you’re at home and don’t want to type in your password every time.
• Saves you the time from having to boot up your Chromebook.
• Prevents your device from going to sleep so you can continue working quickly.
• Useful if you need your Chromebook to complete tasks in the background without going to sleep (uploading or downloading large files, keeping a server connection running, playing background music or videos, etc.)

Cons

• Drains your battery
• Could allow malicious users to get onto your Chromebook if there are others nearby

So it all depends on your usage scenario. Consider the pros and cons.

But it’s definitely useful for those who just want to access their Chromebook quickly and not have to punch in “JFEI238t29A!” every time.

Use a PIN instead of your password

Another option is to simply use a simplified PIN instead of typing out your entire password just to log in to your account.

This offers a nice balance between convenience and security. If you’re paranoid about your account security, but at the same time don’t want to type in your password each time, using a PIN may be the solution!

This is one way you unlock your Chromebook without a password, and you’ll use a 6-digit (or more) PIN instead.

How this works is that you’ll assign yourself a PIN to log in rather than your typical password. If you forget your PIN, you can still log in using your password (or the regular “forgot password?” method).

Here’s how to enable PIN unlock on your Chromebook:

Step 1: Log in to your Chromebook.

Step 2: Launch Chrome, then type in “chrome://settings” in the address bar and hit Enter.

Step 3: Look for the “People” heading.

Step 4: Click on “Screen lock.”

Step 5: Type in your current password.

Step 6: Choose a new PIN by clicking on “Set up PIN.”

Step 7: Assign a new PIN, then hit “Continue.”

Step 8: Confirm your PIN, then hit “Confirm.”

PINS make passwords obsolete

Now you can log in to your Chromebook using this PIN instead of your password.

You can leave on the whole “ask for password after wake” feature so that you’ll be required to punch in your PIN or password every time the Chromebook wakes up.

This way, if anyone were to attempt to logon to your device, they’ll have to know the PIN or password.

The point of this is that your PIN is faster and easier to type in your password, so you can still get the same security of requiring a credential every time to log in.

But you don’t need to type out your whole password string to save you time (and also headache). Think of all the seconds you’ll save each time.

Think of how many times you need to enter it daily. Think of how many times you type this in per week, per month, and per year. Now that’s a timesaver!

Passwords can be a hassle

Don’t get me wrong: Passwords are a great thing. But sometimes, it’s unnecessary and just a waste of time.

Especially when you’re at home and no one else will be using your device. Sure, someone could always break into your home.

Or maybe your brother decides to hack your device one day.

Or maybe your dog walks on your keyboard when you step away to grab a drink.

But where else is safer than home?

Sometimes requiring you type in that string won’t be necessary.

Note that this feature is different for some models. You may need to re-enter your PIN every 24 hours, according to Google.

Other models will let you just use your PIN to log in every time. I guess this varies depending on which model you have.

This also doesn’t work on managed Chromebooks, such as those enrolled in a school or work network.

Did you get rid of the lock screen?

Well, that’s ‘bout it!

By now, you should have a better understanding of the various ways you can bypass the Chromebook lock/password screen.

You can disable the lock screen, prevent your laptop from sleeping, sign in as a Guest, or use a PIN to unlock your Chromebook.

Choose the one that works best for you. Balance convenience and security!

If you have any other questions, feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you ASAP.

Or if you have any cool tips to share with other Chromies, let us know!

If this guide has helped you, let me know as well =]. Consider sharing this page with a fellow Chromebook owner!

Thanks for reading.

• About the Author

About Andy Z.

Andy is a casual-hardcore Chrome OS fan and contributes to the site regularly. He likes computers, tech, sports cars, videogames, and of course, Chromebooks. Thinker. Introvert. Geek. You can find him on Twitter (@platytech), or send him an email (check the "Contact Us" page).