Set a Pre-Sign-In Message on Windows 11/10 Using Local Security Policy

Check your Windows edition and prepare the notice​

Use this procedure on a Windows Pro, Enterprise, or Education PC with the Local Security Policy console available. Windows Home is outside this console-based guide: Microsoft’s Windows 10 administrative guidance excludes Home from the policy-editing tools, and Microsoft-hosted support guidance identifies the same limitation for Windows 11 Home. Do not download a replacement secpol.msc or run an unofficial “enable policy editor” script to follow these instructions.

Check your edition before starting:

1. Open Settings > System > About. This path is the same in Windows 10 and Windows 11.
2. Under Windows specifications, check Edition.
3. Record the Version and OS build if you might need help troubleshooting later. Microsoft documents the About page as the place to identify your installed Windows edition and version.

You need administrator rights to modify local security policy. If this is an employer- or school-managed computer, obtain approval before replacing an existing notice. Microsoft notes that a policy controlled by a Group Policy Object can be inaccessible in the local editor.

Allow about ten minutes, including a sign-out test. Before proceeding:

• Save any open documents.
• Prepare a short heading and a separate message body.
• Decide what contact information is appropriate for someone who has not signed in.
• Keep a copy of any existing title and text so you can restore them.

Privacy warning: Treat the notice as publicly visible information. Do not include passwords, recovery keys, private phone numbers, or confidential internal instructions. For a workplace warning about monitoring or acceptable use, Microsoft recommends having the wording approved by the organization’s legal and human resources representatives.

A simple shared-computer example is:

Title

Shared computer notice

Message text

Please use only your own account and sign out when finished.
Do not leave personal files on this shared computer.
For assistance, contact the reception desk.

Adapt the example to your actual circumstances. Do not claim that activity is monitored unless that statement has been approved and accurately describes the computer’s use.

Set the title and message in Local Security Policy​

Before changing anything: Record the original contents of both settings. Change only the two message policies listed below, not neighboring sign-in or account-security policies. If an existing organizational banner is present, stop unless you are authorized to replace it.

The console procedure is the same in Windows 10 and Windows 11; there is no separate Settings-app switch for these steps.

1. Open the console.
   Open Start, type secpol.msc, and press Enter. Approve the administrator prompt if one appears.
2. Find Security Options.
   In the left pane, expand Local Policies, then select Security Options. Microsoft documents this branch as the location for editing local security options.
3. Set the heading.
   In the right pane, double-click Interactive logon: Message title for users attempting to log on. Copy any existing value into your rollback notes, enter your new heading, and select OK. This setting supplies the title, not the main message.
4. Set the body text.
   Double-click Interactive logon: Message text for users attempting to log on. Preserve its previous contents, enter the notice, and select OK. This is the policy that supplies the message itself.
5. Review the saved values.
   Reopen each setting and compare it with your prepared wording. Check that you have not put the entire notice in the title field or left the message body empty. Close the property windows without making further changes.

Keep the first test message brief. It is easier to confirm that the mechanism works with a short heading and a few sentences than with a full acceptable-use document. After the first successful test, replace the draft with approved final wording and test again.

Verify the notice at a fresh sign-in​

Save your work first: Signing out closes your session. Microsoft distinguishes signing out from locking, which leaves the session and applications open. Use an actual sign-out for this test rather than relying on a lock-and-unlock cycle.

1. Close Local Security Policy and save open work.
2. Open Start, select your user picture or Accounts icon, and choose Sign out. Microsoft documents this route for Windows 10 and Windows 11.
3. Begin signing in again at the computer.
4. Check that the notice shows the intended title and message.
5. Select OK to acknowledge it, then complete your normal sign-in. Microsoft describes the banner as a pre-sign-in dialog, with acknowledgment before proceeding.

Verify the wording, not just the presence of a banner. Check spelling, the support contact, and whether the message is readable without unnecessary scrolling. If the notice is difficult to read, shorten your draft and repeat the test.

A restart is not required. Microsoft explicitly lists no restart requirement for either message policy: locally saved changes become effective without rebooting. A fresh sign-in is the useful verification step because that is where the notice is displayed.

Troubleshoot a missing, incorrect, or uneditable notice​

Windows cannot find secpol.msc​

Return to Settings > System > About and check the edition before attempting repairs. On Home, the missing console is an edition limitation, not by itself evidence that Windows is damaged. This guide does not use registry edits as a substitute for the requested Local Security Policy method.

On an appropriate managed PC, give your administrator the edition, OS build, and exact error message. Avoid copying console files from another computer or resetting Windows just to obtain this editor.

The notice does not appear​

Check these points in order:

1. Reopen the two named policies and inspect their saved contents.
2. Confirm that the title and message are in their respective fields.
3. Test with a full sign-out and sign-in at the PC.
4. If the values are different from what you entered, investigate policy management rather than repeatedly entering the same text.

The title and body are separate but related policies; Microsoft recommends configuring them together so the body reinforces the title.

For diagnosis, prefer a local sign-in at the physical computer. Do not change unrelated authentication settings merely to make the notice appear.

A setting is unavailable, or your wording keeps returning to an older version​

Microsoft states that an inaccessible local setting indicates control by a GPO. Domain policy can also supersede local policy: Windows processes local GPO settings before site, domain, and organizational-unit settings, and later applicable policy can overwrite earlier settings.

On a managed PC, ask IT to identify the policy responsible for the notice. Do not disconnect the computer from its organization or remove management software to make a cosmetic change.

For an administrator collecting diagnostic information, a read-only Group Policy summary can help:

1. Open Command Prompt with Run as administrator.
2. Run:

gpresult /scope computer /r

1. Review the computer-policy summary and provide the relevant results to the administrator responsible for Group Policy.

Microsoft documents /scope computer as limiting results to the computer and /r as displaying summary data. This command reports policy information; it does not change the banner or force a policy refresh.

Treat the output as internal administrative information. Share it privately with support rather than posting an unredacted organizational policy report publicly.

Remove the notice or restore its previous wording​

On a managed computer, obtain approval before removing an organizational notice. If central policy supplied it, have the administrator change the controlling policy; a local edit may be overwritten again.

To undo your own local change:

1. Open secpol.msc again.
2. Navigate to Local Policies > Security Options.
3. Open Interactive logon: Message title for users attempting to log on.
4. Restore the original title from your notes. If the field was originally empty, remove your added text. Select OK.
5. Open Interactive logon: Message text for users attempting to log on.
6. Restore the original body, or clear your added text if it was originally empty. Select OK.

This reverses the same two editable values rather than resetting unrelated security policies. Microsoft lists both settings as undefined by default; restore the actual previous values if the PC already had a customized notice.

Save your work, sign out, and test another sign-in. Confirm that either the previous notice has returned or your added notice is gone. If your replacement wording reappears, stop editing locally and give IT the two policy names, your Windows edition and build, and the computer-policy summary so they can investigate the controlling configuration.