Disable Windows Hello facial recognition when connected to external monitor

Question

Hi,

On my Surface Laptop how can I disable the facial recognition ONLY when it's connected to an external monitor and the lid is closed? It's kinda annoying now when the lid is closed it still is looking for my face.

Answer 1

Hello backslashV,

     We appreciate your patience in waiting for a response on this post. We have done some research in regards to managing Windows Hello settings and external monitors and we are unable to locate a combination of any settings available to ensure that Windows Hello is disabled only when connected to an external monitor.

You could set up to have a PIN to be utilized as opposed to entering a password or having your face recognized every time the Surface Laptop requires a login. Or we could have a local account set up with no connected Microsoft account that doesn't require a password to log into the device. There are also fingerprint readers that would be compatible with your Surface Laptop.

*Please note: Finger Print readers may require your Surface Laptop to be running Windows 10 Pro to be able to install necessary drivers to function properly. 

If you would like to discuss these account options in further detail, please feel free to respond to this post or contact our Surface Technical Support team via dialing 1-800-MICROSOFT or by going to our Support website and clicking Speak to a Live Person to schedule a callback.

Sincerely~

Mason L.

Microsoft Surface Support

www.Microsoft.com/Surface/Support

Answer 2

Thanks. Not necessarily when an external monitor is attached. It totally makes sense not to active face recognition when the lid is closed. Doesn't it?

Answer 3

Hi backslashV,

You can submit feature changes or additions via the Feedback Hub app that is installed with Windows 10. You can upvote already existing feedback items like this one I found at https://aka.ms/Vtnopc, or you can create your own, new feedback requests.

Hope this helps,

Greg

Answer 4

Unlocked for moderation purposes.

Answer 5

In case someone comes across a similar issue in Windows 11: It might not be necessary to disable Face recognition anymore.

Being distracted by the "Make sure you're centered and looking directly at the camera" text, and a "Sign in options" button, I would usually click the button with the mouse and enter the password. And this was how I ended up in this thread.

At least as of Windows 11 23H2, however, just pressing any keyboard button also brings up the password prompt, same as if face recognition wasn't enabled. Or, more specifically, the PIN prompt. With this, I was obtaining the desired behavior without having to selectively disable face recognition.

My target here was to combine the following:

• Avoid a short numeric pin entirely.
• Have facial recognition when using the Surface device as a tablet to avoid typing a long password on the touchscreen every time I have to put the tablet aside.

With Windows 11 it is achievable like this:

• Use a full "alphanumeric plus punctuation" style sequence as password. In my case, following the XKCD "password strength" advise.
• Use an equally complicated sequence as the "PIN".
• Enable face recognition.

When the laptop is docked at home, it tries to look for my face but can't find it, but instead I just type the PIN on the keyboard.