How to Use Fast User Switching In Windows 11

Why Use Fast User Switching?

Fast User Switching lets people share one PC without sharing their stuff. Each person has their own apps, files and settings, and none of it is visible to the others. When you switch away, your session stays loaded in the background, and you pick it up again when you sign back in.

Your open documents and running apps are kept, but nothing is saved for you. If you leave unsaved work open, save it before you switch. Another user could shut down or restart the PC, and that would close every session, including yours.

Prerequisites

You need at least two user accounts on the PC before there is anyone to switch to. Windows 11 Home and Pro both support the feature. Adding accounts and changing the policy settings later in this guide requires an administrator account.

To add an account, sign in as an administrator and go to Settings › Accounts › Other users, then select Add account. Follow the prompts. When the account is created, it shows up in the list of people you can switch to.

Method 1Switch from the Login Screen

The sign-in screen is usually the easiest place to switch. It appears when the PC is locked or has just started up.

Look at the bottom left corner of the screen. Your accounts are listed there by name. Click the account you want, then sign in with that account’s password or PIN. The other user’s session stays running in the background.

Method 2Switch from the Start Menu

1. Click the Start button. The Start menu⊞ opens.
2. Click your profile icon (your name or picture) at the bottom left of the Start menu⊞. A small menu opens with the other accounts on the PC listed in it.
3. Click the account you want to use. You land on that account’s sign-in screen. Enter the password or PIN to continue.

Your own session keeps running. If you have not finished with it, nothing is lost. To close your session for good instead, choose Sign out from that same profile menu.

Method 3Use the Shutdown Dialog Window

1. Press WIN + D to show your desktop. This clears the windows out of the way. The shutdown menu in the next step opens from the desktop.
2. Press ALT + F4 to open the shutdown menu. A Shut Down Windows box appears with a dropdown list.
3. Select Switch user from the dropdown list, then confirm. You are taken to the sign-in screen, where you pick the other account.

If the box does not show Switch user, see the troubleshooting sections below.

Method 4Use Ctrl + Alt + Delete

1. Press CTRL + ALT + DEL. The screen changes to a blue security screen with a short menu of options.
2. Select Switch user from the blue screen menu. The sign-in screen opens, and you can choose the account you want.

This method is handy when an app has taken over the screen or the Start menu is not responding.

Troubleshooting: Fix Missing Fast User Switching

If the user switching option is missing from the Start menu, the sign-in screen or the shutdown menu, a system policy has most likely hidden it. Another cause is a work or school PC where the setting is managed by your organization. In that case, you may not be able to change it.

You need an administrator account (an account with permission to change system-wide settings) to make these changes. Standard accounts cannot do this, and the settings will not save.

Using the Registry Editor

You can turn the feature back on in the Registry Editor (a tool for changing advanced system settings). It works on both Home and Pro. You open the Registry Editor, find the policy key, and set the value that hides user switching to 0. That makes the option appear again for everyone on the PC.

The registry holds core Windows settings, so go slowly. Before you change anything, you can back it up by choosing File › Export in the Registry Editor.

1. Press WIN + R, type regedit, and press Enter. If Windows asks whether to allow the app to make changes, click Yes. The Registry Editor window opens.
2. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System You can click through the folders in the left pane, or paste the path into the address bar at the top of the window.
3. Look in the right pane for HideFastUserSwitching. If it exists, double-click it and set the value to 0. If it does not exist, right-click an empty area, choose New, create a new DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it HideFastUserSwitching with a value of 0. Click OK to save.

Close the Registry Editor, then sign out and back in, or restart the PC. The switch option should now appear. A value of 0 shows the option and 1 hides it, so to undo the change, set the value back to 1.

Using Group Policy Editor

If you have Windows 11 Pro, you can use the Group Policy Editor instead of the registry. It is a friendlier way to make the same change. Windows 11 Home does not include the Group Policy Editor, so Home users should use the registry method above.

1. Press WIN + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter. The Local Group Policy Editor opens.
2. Go to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Logon. Click each folder in the left pane to open it. The policies in that folder are listed in the right pane.
3. Find Hide entry points for Fast User Switching, double-click it, and set it to Disabled. Click OK to save.

Sign out and back in, or restart, so the change takes effect. Not Configured also leaves the feature on. If you later want to hide the option again, set the policy to Enabled.

Performance Impact on System Resources

Fast User Switching uses more RAM. Each signed-in user runs their own background apps, which adds roughly 200 MB of memory use per user. The figure grows quickly if a user leaves large apps such as a browser or video editor open.

If the computer feels slow, sign out of accounts you are not using. Switch to the idle account, open the Start menu, click the profile icon and choose Sign out. Save any open work first, because signing out closes that user’s apps. This frees up memory for the account you are working in.

Summary

Fast User Switching in Windows 11 lets you swap between accounts without logging off completely. You can switch from the Start menu, the sign-in screen or with keyboard shortcuts, which makes sharing one PC easy. If the option is missing, an administrator can bring it back through the Registry Editor or, on Pro, the Group Policy Editor. Remember to sign out of accounts you are not using, since each active session takes up memory.