How to Reset Your Forgotten Password in Windows 10?

Have you ever faced the situation when you forgot or lost your Windows login password? If this is the case then you might have searched the ways for Windows 10 password reset. Just think if you need some necessary data or information that you have stored on your computer but you have forgotten your login password. Having the data in hand is of no use in such a case. I can understand the situation in which you are? Really, losing a password to your user account Windows 10 can be very irritating. If you have forgotten the password means you have lost access to all your data stored on a computer.

If you know the administrator password then there are chances to manage the passwords by logging in using the. administrator account. Sometimes it can also be lost or forgotten.

You might have searched for the solutions to log–into your system but all in vain. Need not to panic. Here, we have gathered all the solutions that you can make a try to reset Windows 10 password.

What to do when you forget your Windows 10 password?

We all know that Windows 10 supports two types of accounts

local accounts (Exist only on the device) and
Microsoft accounts (Exist globally).

The procedure to reset the password depends on the account type. Though the solution to recover the password for the Microsoft accounts is easy as it is possible to reset the account password online.

However, certain options are given there to reset the password depending on the account type and some other parameters.

Windows 10 has long offered the ability to help you reset your password if you use a Microsoft Account. You can also reset it if you’re using a local account. With a local account, you just need to set up several security questions to answer in that case when you can’t remember your login. After you successfully answer them, you can easily reset your password and access your account.

How to Reset Windows 10 password?

Guys, there are various means by which you can reset your forgotten Windows 10 password. Here I have listed the best possible methods to recover your forgotten password. You need not try them all, just adopt the methods one by one down the list until you have recovered the password. So let’s start

Reset Windows 10 password using security questions

The first solution is the standard password reset function available from Microsoft’s password reset. If you are using Windows 10 operating system with 1803 version and you must have added answers to the security questions at the time of creating your account.

First, try to enter the password which you remember.

You will get a message “The password is incorrect”. Click on the OK button.

Now, you can see the reset password and click on it which is present in the log–on the screen. You can see the below image for reference.

Next, you will redirect into the next screen where security questions are present.

Answer all the security questions present on the screen, after submitting Windows will verify with your answers. If both matches then you will be directed to the password reset screen (new password).

Enter your new password and reconfirm your password. Now, click on the submit button.
After completion of this process, the sign-in screen appears. You can sign-into your system with the use of your new password.

NOTE: If you don’t remember security questions answers and forgot your Windows 10 OS lock screen password. Then you can’t recover it by using security questions reset password Windows 10 but can go with the below alternative solutions. You are having another option of formatting your system which erases all of your data but tries this option at last after following all the below solutions. You can see the process of formatting your Windows 10 operating system. It will erase all your system data and can get access to your system is explained as the last solution.

Login with other sign-in option

If you have Windows 10 log – in options like pin or picture password or another administrative account. You have a good chance to open the command prompt and reset your Windows 10 password easily.

Press Windows logo key + x on the keyboard, you can get access to Windows quick access menu. Click on the command prompt (Admin).

Type the following commands to reset your password.

net user account_name new_password and click enter

You will get the result as the command completed successfully. Now, you can access your account with the new password.

Reset Windows 10 Password using Password Reset Disk

Forgetting a password is one of the most irritating and frustrating things that happens to everyone. You can avoid this situation by creating a password reset disk.

Initially, we will know the process of how to create a password reset disk.

Insert your SD card or CD or USB drive through their desired plugins of your PC.

Now, click Windows symbol key + S from the keyboard to open the search bar and type in “create a password reset disk”.

Next click on user accounts available on the top of the Window. A pop–up window opens and clicks on the Next button.

The window shows the location to create a password reset disk. If you want to change location then click on the drop-down menu and select the drive on which you want to create a password reset disk. Click on the next button present on the Window.

Here, type your local account password. The password is your current password to log into your account on your PC. Click on the Next button.

Click on the Next button once the progress bar reaches 100 %.

On the next Window, your creation of password reset disk and click on the finish button.

Note: Never lose or misplace your USB drive or SD card or CD that containing your password reset disk. Because the person who contains the password reset disk will get easy access to your account.

How To Use It

If you have forgotten your password and your password hint also doesn’t help to remember the password. The password reset disk will help you out and will also save you time.

Initially, connect your SD card or USB drive, which contains your password reset disk connect to your PC.

Click on the reset password button present on the screen.

You will get a Window, click on the Next button.

Now, click on the drop-down menu, visible on the screen. Select the device on which your password is located. After selecting the drive, click on the Next button.

Type your new password, on the prescribed box. Re-enter your new password in the given box. And type the new password hint in the given space.

After all, filling the required fields. Click on the Next button.
Finally, click on the finish button.

The new password is reset into your local account. Now, you can log–in to your local account with just created a new password.

** A password reset disk works only with a local account on your PC, not for Microsoft account. To reset Microsoft account there are other solutions this is only to reset local accounts of Windows 10.

Windows 10 Admin password reset using Microsoft Account

Windows 10 operating system password reset with the help of a Microsoft account. You can use this process either for any version of Windows 10. But it would be good to update your Windows 10 OS to Windows version 1803. You can see the version from opening settings > system > about. Next, scroll to find Windows specifications. If your system needs to update then go to update and security under settings. You will see an update “feature update to Windows 10, version 1803”, install it. If you don’t find the update, jump to Microsoft’s Windows 10 download page to manually download April 2018 update.

You are on the log–in the screen of Windows 10. If you don’t remember your password, click on “I forgot my password.”

On the next screen, you can see the Microsoft account id and you have to write the characters seen in the image. Click on the Next button.

The window shows the details of “How would you like to get your security code.” You can select an email or text message option which is hidden under stars; you have to enter your email or mobile number linked with the Windows 10 OS Microsoft account in the box as shown in the figure. Tap on the Send code button.

You have to check your mobile or email for the code. Enter the code you have received in the required field.

If the code sent to email and entered on the Windows 10 screen matches. You will redirect Window to enter a new password for your Windows log–on the screen. Tap on the Next button.
Finally, the screen shows password has been changed successfully. Click on the Next button.

The next button redirects you to the log–on the screen. Enter your new password.

Create a new user account and get access to the other account files

If the above solution doesn’t work, new user account creation allows you to regain access to your computer. Initially, start booting Windows 10 installation setup by changing the boot order in your BIOS to take importance with the use of CD or use ISO like a startup disk.

Once the setup starts, click shift + F10 at the same time. This option will pop–up to a command prompt window.

Using command prompt replace utility manager at the log – in screen with cmd.exe with the following commands.

Move d:\windows\system32\utilman.exe d:\windows\system32\utilman.exe.bak.

$Move d:\windows\system32\utilman.exe d:\windows\system32\utilman.exe.bak.$

Copy d:\windows\system32\cmd.exe d:\windows\system32\utilman.exe $Copy d:\windows\system32\cmd.exe d:\windows\system32\utilman.exe$

Once the above process completed, use the command “wpeutil reboot” to restart the machine.

After entering the login screen, tap on the utility manager. If everything is right, you will get a Window of cmd.exe. Here, it is the prompt Window used to create a new administrative user on the login screen.

Net user <username>/add click enter .

Net localgroup administrators <username> / add click enter

After successful completion of the above process, close the prompt Window and you will be able to see a new user on the login screen.

You have successfully logged into the system, right-click on the start menu on the left-hand side of the system. You will get a set of options and select computer management from the given options.

Select “Local users and groups,” under them tap on users. There you will get all the usernames, scroll down to the affected account, and right-click on the account. Select the set password option to reset the password and regain access to your locked account.

On the next window, click on the proceed button.

Enter your new password and reconfirm it. Click on the ok button.

If the online recovery mode is not working, you still able to access files or folders that locked up in an account by going into c:\users and click on the associated folder. Follow the below images to get access to the files or folders of a locked up account.

$If the online recovery mode is not working, you still able to access files or folders that locked up in an account by going into c:\users and click on the associated folder. Follow the below images to get access to the files or folders of a locked up account.$

Recover Forgotten password using Windows 10 Tools

Log in to the Administrator Account.
Open Control Panel and go to the User Accounts.

Select Manage another account.

Specify the account for which you have lost the password.

Select Change the password.

Enter the new password and click on the option Change password.

Log out from the Administrator account and login to your account with the new password.

How to Reset Forgotten Windows 10 password using Software?

Guys, if none of the above methods worked for you and you are still not having your Windows 10 password then you can recover it using the tools or software. Here I have listed some most popular and user-friendly tools to recover the password. Just download the tools and follow the steps listed below. definitely you will be helped. Let’s start

MSDART OR MDOP DART Windows 10 password Recovery Toolset

MSDART stands for Microsoft Diagnosis And Recovery Toolset is the software assurance to reset the password of the Windows 10 operating system. Users of Windows 10 will generally set up the local user or administrator and they will configure the domain account. After configuring the domain account users will never log–in with a local account. But sometimes you need to log–in with local accounts due to some of the reasons. For Example Domain account password is expired and the user needs to log–on to the computer for accessing data. As you use the domain account and you are not able to remember long ago created a local account password.

Get the latest version of diagnostics and recovery toolset. You can create a recovery CD using ERD commander boot wizard-based upon WinPE or obtain the CD from the local IT.

Boot your Windows 10 operating system using the DART recovery CD. On the screen you will find a pop–up Window, select NO option as we don’t require NetStart Network Connectivity.

Select the language comfortable to you. It shows US English as a default language. Click on the Next button, after completion of appropriate language selection on the pop–up window.

Select the operating system of which you have forgotten the password if you have more than two operating systems. Select one and click on the Next button.

Once loaded with the selected operating system, you can see many tools. Select the option of Microsoft diagnostics and recovery toolset.

You can see all the options as shown in the image. Click on the locksmith local account, which will reset the password.

The selection will launch the locksmith wizard with a pop–up Windows, click on the Next button.

Here, the pop–up window will show up the options like account, new password and confirm the password. Select the account name and retype the password. Click on the Next button.

Finally, you will find a dialogue box that shows the completion of the locksmith wizard. Click on the finish button to complete the process of resetting the password.

Now, remove the DART CD and restart the machine. On the screen enter the recently changed password then you will find a message as shown in the below image. Click on the ok button.

On the screen, you have to type the new password. After completing the filling the fields, click on the arrow button to reset the password.

You will get a message of your password has been changed. Click on the ok button. Now you can log in with a recently changed password.

Recover Windows 10 Password using PassMoz LabWin

PassMoz LabWin is a GUI based password reset program that can easily remove password from a locked account on Windows-based computers. It helps the user create a bootable USB or CD containing the password reset utility. Once the program is loaded, the password can be reset in seconds so you don’t need to wait any time. It takes about 5 minutes to fully unlock a Windows computer. Currently, it supports Windows 10 as well as Windows 8/7/Vista/XP.

Get another PC and download PassMoz Windows Password Recovery. Install it on a computer and insert it into a USB or CD at the same time.

Once the disk is detected by the program, click the Burn button to start creating a bootable disk for a password reset.

Now insert the disk into a locked Windows computer and set USB as the 1st device for booting in BIOS.
Restart the computer and the PassMoz LabWin program will be loaded on-screen. Select a user account and click “Reset Password” to remove the password from a locked user account. Eject the disk and the computer should go to desktop automatically.

Notice:

PassMoz LabWin will only reset the password for Windows 10 local account. For Microsoft account, please go to live.com for password reset as mentioned above part. For the domain account, please contact the system admin to reset the password.
No program, including PassMoz LabWin, is able to reset the password on a computer that has BitLocker enabled in system drive. Please don’t waste time and money on it.

Reset Windows 10 Password using PCUNLOCKER

PCUnlocker will help you to unlock any Windows computer that is locked due to a forgotten password. It is a bootable image that can be written to a CD or a USB pen drive using ISO2Disc freeware.

After booting from PCUnlocker CD or USB, you can view all the accounts for Windows 10 installation.
Select one of the local accounts and click on reset password button, the software will check for the status of your selected account.

The following are the tasks that the software will perform to reset your password problem:

If your Windows account is password-protected, the software will remove the password.
Switches associated Microsoft account to local account.
Promotes your select account standard / limited user to administrator.
If the user account is disabled, this software helps you to activate the account.
The software will help to unlock your locked account.

And many more options are available, helps you to reset your password in any of the forms.

**After resetting your Windows 10 password and login to your system. Now, you can make a new password with a password hint to not forget for the next time. It is also good practice to create Windows 10 password reset disk. The password reset disk will help to reset your complicated password for security reasons.

Factory Reset Windows 10 without password

As you have tried all the options above and nothing works out to reset computer password Windows 10. Here is the solution which formats your system removing all your data, programs, and settings.

Turn on your computer and on the lock screen you can see the power symbol at the bottom right corner. Click on the power button, you can see the options. Holding shift key select Restart option.

You will be redirected to the boot screen with menu options. Select the Troubleshoot option.

On the next screen, select Reset this PC option.

Click on Remove everything option present on the screen.

Now, your PC will restart and will reset itself.

NOTE: If you want to lock your system with a password. Go to settings and create a rememberable lock screen password to protect your pc from using others.

How to Reset Windows 10 Microsoft Account password?

If you have forgotten the Windows 10 Microsoft Account password then you can recover it by using the following steps:

Open the Password Reset page on the Internet. You can open this page on mobile as this will need internet access.
A new page will open “why can’t you sign in” that will give you three options:

I forgot my password.
I know my password but can’t sign in.
I think someone else is using my Microsoft Account.

Select the option “I forgot my password” and click on Next to continue.

Now enter the email address or phone number linked with the Microsoft account and click Next.

Select the appropriate option to get a code in order to verify your identity. Now you will get a list of options depending on the information provided earlier.

Check your email to see the verification code.

Enter the Seven digit code received and click on the Next button.

However, if you have enabled the Two-factor authentication then you have to perform the same step again with another verification option.
If the verification goes successful then a new window will open. Here you can select a new account password for your Microsoft account and click on the Next button.

Next, you will see a window stating Your account has been recovered.

Conclusion

Are you still facing any issue related to Windows 10 password reset? None of the password reset options worked out or facing any problem while processing any of the solutions?

You can contact the Microsoft team and definitely they will help you. They will welcome you by asking the security that you have set during the signup process. If you don’t remember that answer then they will transfer your call to the other team and they will go through a long list of questions for verification.

Otherwise, mention your issue in the comment section, we will revert you with the solution for it. Other than the above solutions, if you have any more solutions to reset Windows 10, write to us in the comment section. If you feel this article helpful please like, share, and follow our Facebook page and keep visiting our website for more tutorials and guides.