

If you have set the login options to show only a name and password field, there will be no visual indication that there are already open user sessions running in the background. If you later return to the login window and there are user sessions already open in the background, those users will have a check indicator next to the account name. This option will remove the icons from the login window, and you will instead just see a form with fields for the account name and password. It is possible to configure login options in the Users & Groups preference to show only name and password instead. This window consists of a list of user icons. The login window is the screen that greets you after the system has finished the startup process that prepares the computer for use.

This screen will prompt for the password of the active user. The lock screen shows up when the computer has locked the computer after waking up from sleep, when the screen saver has locked the screen, or if some other event has triggered a lock.It will always have icons for the users who are enabled to decrypt the volume.

When the system volume is encrypted, the FileVault unlock screen appears at startup or after waking up from standby or safe sleep.It can have user icons or a name and password form.

This is the screen you see when the computer starts up.
