Signing in to Windows 8

How to "Sign in" or "Log in" to Windows 8 and 8.1

information   Information
There have been many reports of how the sign in process for Windows 8 is not very intuitive, so I decided to create this tutorial to help with that. Once you sign in for the first time, you will be fine. It's just a matter of getting use to logging in being different than previous versions of Windows.

"Log in" is now called "Sign in" in Windows 8. Windows 8 starts up to the lock screen by default now instead of the traditional log on screen as in previous versions of Windows.

This tutorial will help show you the new method of how to sign in (log in) to a user account in Windows 8.



Here's How:

1. From the lock screen, do either one of the actions below to go to the sign in (log on) screen. (see screenshots below)
  • Press any key.
  • Click/tap on the lock screen.
  • Click/tap and hold on the lock screen, drag (swipe) the lock screen all the way up, and release.
  • If you have Secure sign-in enabled, then press Ctrl+Alt+Delete.

    step-1.jpgSecure_Lock_screen.jpg
2. If you have more than one user account on the PC, then you can select the user account you want to sign in to by clicking/taping on it's account picture. (see screenshot below)
step-2.jpg

3. Click/tap on the sign-in options link (not needed for password), and do step 4, 5, or 6 below depending on if you want to sign in to your user account with a password, fingerprint, picture password, or a PIN.
Fingerprint_Sign-in-1.jpg

4. Type in the password of the selected local account or Microsoft account, press Enter or click/tap on the enter arrow select.jpg icon, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: If you wish to sign in to another user account instead, then click/tap on the back arrow at the top left to go back to step 2 to do so.
Sign-in_Windows_8_Password.jpg

5. Click/tap on the fingerprint icon, scan a registered finger on the fingerprint reader, and go to step 8 below. (see screenshots below)

Note   Note
If you like, you could also just swipe your finger over the fingerprint reader from the lock or sign in screen to automatically sign in to your user account without having to do step 2 or 3 above.


Fingerprint_Sign-in-2.jpg
Fingerprint_Sign-in-3.jpg

6. Click/tap on the picture password icon, draw the picture password of the selected user account, and go to step 8 below. (see screenshot below)
Sign-in_Windows_8_Picture_Password.jpg

7. Click/tap on the PIN icon, enter the PIN number of the selected user account, and go to step 8 below. (see screenshot below)
Sign-in_Windows_8_PIN.jpg

8. You will now be signed in, and open to the Start screen in Windows 8. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: If you like, you can click/tap on the Desktop app tile to go to your desktop.
Start.jpg


That's it,
Shawn


 

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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Hewlett-Packard
    Memory
    6GB (2+4)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD 4000
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    2 (1x 1TB and 1x 20GB - Recovery)
    Keyboard
    UK Layout
    Mouse
    Touchpad
    Internet Speed
    60mb (originally 30mb) (VIRGIN MEDIA)
Thank you aar407. Typo corrected. :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
LOL
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
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