Disable or Enable the new Password Reveal Button feature in Windows 8

Speed Up My PC

Windows 8 introduces a new feature called as Password Reveal. While using Windows 8, whenever you enter your password in the password field of a website or any Windows 8 app or the login screen, a Password Reveal Button or icon will appear at the end of the password field.

password reveal button 400x222 Disable or Enable the new Password Reveal Button feature in Windows 8

When you click on this button, your password gets momentarily displayed in places of the asterisks. While it is a pretty useful feature, especially in case you are not sure what you have typed in the password field and need to confirm before clicking on the Sign in or Enter button, security conscious users may want to disable this feature.

Disable Password Reveal Button in Windows 8

If you wish, you can disable the Password Reveal Button in Windows 8. To do so, type gpedit.msc in the Charms Bar search box and hit Enter to open the Group Policy Editor.

pr gp 1 600x288 Disable or Enable the new Password Reveal Button feature in Windows 8

Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Credential User Interface. Now in the right side pane, you will see Do not display the password reveal button. Double-click on it to open its Policy Settings box.

pr gp 2 600x515 Disable or Enable the new Password Reveal Button feature in Windows 8

This policy setting allows you to configure the display of the password reveal button in password entry user experiences.

Select Enabled and click on Apply/OK.

  • If you Enable this policy setting, the password reveal button will not be displayed after a user types a password in the password entry text box.
  • If you Disable or Do Not Configure this policy setting, the password reveal button will be displayed after a user types a password in the password entry text box. By default, the password reveal button is displayed.

If your version doesn not have a Group Policy Editor, you may be required to edit your registry.

To do so, open the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows

Create a new Key and name it as CredUI.

pr r 1 600x362 Disable or Enable the new Password Reveal Button feature in Windows 8

Next, in the right side, right-click and create a new DWORD and name it DisablePasswordReveal.

pr r 2 600x337 Disable or Enable the new Password Reveal Button feature in Windows 8

  • If you give DisablePasswordReveal a value 1, the Password Reveal Button will be hidden.
  • If you give it a value 0 or delete this DWORD, it will revert to default ie. the Password Reveal Button will be shown.

The policy applies to all Windows components and applications that use the Windows system controls, including Internet Explorer. If you are a Windows 8 app developer, you may want to see this post on MSDN which tells you how to show the Password Reveal Button in your apps.

Posted by on , in Category Windows with Tags , ,
Anand aka HappyAndyK is an end-user Windows enthusiast, a Microsoft MVP in Windows Desktop Experience since 2007, and the Admin of TheWindowsClub.com, TheGeeksClub.com & WinVistaClub.com. Creating a System Restore Point before trying out a new software or a tweak is always recommended.

Random Posts

  • John D

    I have windows 7 and this password reveal button has appeared on IE 10 which I have. How do I disable it in IE 10 when using windows 7? All articles I find are for windows 8 and the method doesn’t work.

  • Sunil Bhele

    Administrative Templates->Windows Component->Internet Explorer->Security Features………..double click do not display the reveal password button…….select the option Enable……Click OK

  • Sunil Bhele

    For Windows 7 type gpedit.msc in Run box and press Enter Key
    Administrative Templates->Windows Component->Internet Explorer->Security Features………..double click do not display the reveal password button…….select the option Enable……Click OK