How to Add or Remove Account Picture Menu on Start Menu in Windows 11

What is the Account Picture Menu?

The Windows 11 Start menu has an account picture menu: a small image of your user picture in the lower-left corner of the menu. Select it to open account settings, lock your PC, sign out, or switch users without opening the main Settings app.

New Feature in Recent 🪟 Windows 11 Updates

Update KB5101684 gave the Start menu account control a refreshed design and added a badge that shows your subscription status. The badge is available only if you are signed in with a Microsoft account. Microsoft also notes that feature availability varies by device and market, so you may not see the badge on every PC.

To find the control now, open the Start menu and select your account picture in the lower-left corner.

A Windows 11 update (build 26100.7922 for 24H2, also available in 25H2) added a new option to the account menu. It links directly to the Microsoft account benefits page at https://account.microsoft.com/, which makes it quicker to check and manage your Microsoft account benefits. If your PC is on an earlier build, you may not see this option.

How to Add or Remove the Account Picture Menu

Removing the account picture menu hides your user picture and makes the Start menu look cleaner. Adding it back restores the user picture and its options.

What happens? Removing the account picture menu hides the user tile from your Start menu. Adding it brings the menu back.

What You Need

Before you start, check the following:

• Administrator access to your computer

⚠️ Admin Required: Open Registry Editor as an administrator. Without administrator rights, the change fails with an access denied error and nothing is saved.

Know what to expect after you make the change. It may not show up right away. If the Start menu looks the same, sign out and back in, or restart your PC, and then open Start again. Restarting File Explorer from Task Manager can also work, but signing out is the more reliable test.

One more thing to know: the setting is stored under the PolicyManager\default key. Windows may not honor that key as a policy on every edition of Windows 11. If the change saves without errors but the account picture stays the same, even after you sign out and back in, this is the most likely reason. Home and Pro can behave differently here, so test on the edition you actually use.

Steps

Create a restore point: search for “Create a restore point” in Start, then click Create. Or export the registry key you are about to change from Registry Editor using File › Export. If something goes wrong, you can restore from either one.

1. Click Start, type Registry Editor, right-click Registry Editor in the results, and choose Run as administrator. Click Yes if User Account Control asks for permission. The Registry Editor window opens with a folder tree on the left.
2. Decide whether you want to add the account picture menu or remove it. Then follow the matching Registry Editor steps below: the first set adds it, and the second set removes it.

Add Account Picture Menu to Start Menu

This is the default setting. Windows behaves this way until you change it, so you can always apply these steps to go back. Applying them shows the account picture menu in the Start menu.

1. Open Registry Editor: press Win+R, type regedit, and press Enter. Select Yes if User Account Control asks.
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Start\HideUserTile — paste the path into the address bar at the top of Registry Editor and press Enter.
3. If there is no HideUserTile key, right-click Start in the left pane, select New › Key, name it HideUserTile, and select it. Create any other missing key in the path the same way.
4. Right-click an empty area of the right pane, select New › DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it value. If value is already there, skip this step.
5. Double-click value, set Base to Decimal, type 0 in Value data, and select OK.

3. Close Registry Editor, then sign out and back in, or restart your🔄 PC, if the Start menu⊞ does not change right away. Open Start and look for your account picture in the lower-left corner.

That’s it. The account picture menu is back in your Start menu, with its options to open account settings, lock, sign out and switch users.

Remove Account Picture Menu from Start Menu

Use these steps if you want a cleaner Start menu without the user tile.

1. Open Registry Editor: press Win+R, type regedit, and press Enter. Select Yes if User Account Control asks.
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Start\HideUserTile — paste the path into the address bar at the top of Registry Editor and press Enter.
3. If there is no HideUserTile key, right-click Start in the left pane, select New › Key, name it HideUserTile, and select it. Create any other missing key in the path the same way.
4. Right-click an empty area of the right pane, select New › DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it value. If value is already there, skip this step.
5. Double-click value, set Base to Decimal, type 1 in Value data, and select OK.

3. Close Registry Editor, then sign out and back in, or restart your🔄 PC, if the Start menu⊞ does not change right away. Open Start and check that your account picture is gone.

You should now have a Start menu without the account picture menu. Lock, sign out and switch user are still available through Win plus L, Ctrl+Alt+Del and the power options in Start.

Learn More

For more information, see Start Policy CSP and learn more about the Start Area in Policy CSP on docs.microsoft.com.

Summary

The account picture menu on your Windows 11 Start menu gives you quick access to settings and sign-out options. If you prefer a tidier Start menu, you can hide it with Registry Editor. To undo it, apply the steps for the opposite setting, then sign out and back in. If you ever need to roll back more than that, use the restore point or registry export you made before you started.