How to reset Windows 10 password

A prudent user will be saved by a hint. After an unsuccessful attempt to log into the system, the screen will please with a link for password protection. We click on it and answer control questions using memory or a cheat sheet.

If the answers are correct, Windows will offer to enter a new alphanumeric combination and confirm it. Doesn’t this option work? Read on for other ways to deal with the problem.

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Windows 10: reset Microsoft account password

To unlock the password, you need to go to account.live.com on another device, or even better add / password / reset to this path. Then you do not have to understand the confusing navigation of the Microsoft site. A window will open in which you need to enter an email corresponding to the Microsoft account. In the next window there is a 3-point security code menu. Here you choose the way to get the password reset code in the capricious Windows 10 :

  • Sending a combination of numbers to e-mail.
  • Receiving a code by SMS.
  • The third option is if the first two do not fit.

It is better when it is possible to receive a code by e-mail or phone , and then enter a new account password. The first two points will not work if you cannot log in to the email linked to the Microsoft account, or receive an SMS to the phone number specified during registration. In this case, we go to the window for information that will help Microsoft make sure that the restored account belongs to you. Enter your full name, country, etc. Increasing the likelihood of a positive result can be the presence of the Xbox hardware ID, SkypeID and contact names, date of creation or last use of the account. It is advisable to fill in the fields from a device and location familiar to Microsoft.

Microsoft usually responds within 24 hours. After that, you will be sent a link to reset your password or refuse.

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Resetting local account password

Alas, in this case Microsoft will not save, but it is quite possible to get out on your own. You can reset the password in just a couple of minutes if the user has previously transferred it to a USB flash drive . If this has not been done and there are no answers to security questions, you will need to boot from a resuscitation disk or a bootable USB flash drive. Then there are 2 ways:

  • By editing the system registry, force the system to issue a command line (KS) when booting from the hard drive .
  • By replacing the system file, attach a link to the COP to the shortcut for the disabled. This shortcut is displayed at the bottom right when entering the OS.

Access to a set of commands is the ability to de-password by typing net user followed by a suitable continuation. Details below.

How to reset Windows 10 password using a file previously uploaded to a USB flash drive

If you have problems storing your password, you can hedge yourself by dropping it on a bootable or any other USB flash drive. This option is suitable for logging into a computer using a local account. Algorithm of actions:

  1. We insert a USB flash drive into the computer.
  2. We go to the Control Panel.
  3. We open the accounts.
  4. On the left, click on “Create a floppy disk …”. The Forgotten Password Wizard window appears.
  5. By default, the wizard prompts you to select a drive for recording. However, some young users don’t even know what it is. In general, instead of a floppy disk, choose a USB flash drive.
  6. Enter the account password.

A tiny file userkey.psw appeared on the flash drive. The main thing is not to accidentally delete it while using the drive.

Now, if you forgot your password, enter any left combination of characters. Next, click OK. The screen is refreshed and a reset link appears below the password field. We click on the link, and we get into the Microsoft Password Reset Wizard. Instead of a floppy drive, select a USB flash drive. Naturally, by this time it should be inserted into the PC. We enter the newly invented password, confirm. At the same time, you can enter a hint. This concludes the wizard. You can log into the computer with a new password and upload the new userkey.psw to a USB flash drive.

This method, unfortunately, cannot be called in demand, since the need to reset the password in stubborn Windows 10 usually arises in the absence of the necessary preparation. Users rarely lay straws, as a rule, they start looking for a solution when the trouble has already happened, they do not bother with a backup password upload via USB.

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Reset password using command line

What is the relationship between KS and password reset? The fact is that with the help of commands you can manage user accounts. Before the advent of Windows 10, it was possible to press the lone F8 or in the company with Shift when booting the computer, and get into safe mode from the COP. In the top ten, developers have changed the technology for starting safe mode. Users can no longer use it if there is no way to load the system with full functionality. However, this does not mean that if you lose your password, you will not be able to get to the command line. It’s just that the developers made it harder for people to do the job in order to secure the system from unauthorized entry.

To reset the password, you will need a reanimation disk or a flash drive, sharpened for the “experimental” Windu. When creating a bootloader, you need to take into account the version of the operating system. After loading, we see the first window for installing the OS with a choice of languages, press F10 with the shift key while waiting for the result. In the case of a laptop , Fn may need to be added to this keyboard shortcut. We get to the command line.

If you did not boot from USB, but from an installation or reanimation CD / DWD, perhaps skip without F10. This option will work if the first window contains “System Restore”. We go to Troubleshooting, then to Additional parameters, and finally to the COP.

When booting from the media from the command line, you will not be able to manage the account, for this you will need to boot from the hard drive. But now we can get to the registry editor by writing regedit. Further:

  1. Let’s go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
  2. We click “File” → “Load bush”. We show the SYSTEM file to the system registry editor, opening first Windows, then System32 and, finally, config.
  3. Load a bush with any name. You can choose the name Recovery.
  4. In the new bush, open the Setup daddy.
  5. In the CmdLine parameter, enter the sequence of characters “cmd.exe”. The final touch is to set the SetupType parameter to 2.
  6. Select Password and click File → Unload Hive.
  7. We finish working with the registry by closing the editor.

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Reboot from the hard drive. The computer will show the command line at the input. From there, you can make adjustments to the properties of the account with the net user tool. If you use the command without parameters – info for all accounts will be displayed. It will be possible to look at the username. Examples of training the account:

  • net user BillG 111 – password 111 was assigned to BillG user;
  • net user BillG “” – nailed user password BillG.

You will have a different username. Forget about Cyrillic when passwording.

After we figured out the password, we edit the sysregister:

  1. In the daddy HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ Setup, we nail the value of the CmdLine parameter.
  2. Set the SetupType parameter to 0.
  3. We close the system registry.

After rebooting from the hard drive, you will see the usual authorization window.

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Resetting your password using the built-in Administrator account

Are you looking for information on how to reset a lost password on a computer without editing the system registry? The easiest way is suitable for “dozens”, starting with a professional OS modification. It, as in the previous case, requires a bootable media to gain access to the CS. The bootloader can be a reanimating CD / DWD or a USB flash drive.

We boot from the flash drive, use Shift + F10 to open the COP. We type commands to get information about the partitioning of the hard drive: diskpart, list volume. They are needed to determine the letter of the disk on which Windows is installed. We will use this letter when composing commands in the future. A plate with the sizes and types of hard drive partitions will be displayed. From it you can understand what the system disk is called. Next, we make a small substitution. Instead of a file that is needed so that disabled people can work with Windows, we will slip the OS into an executable that launches the COP. Rename utilman.exe and call it cmd.exe.

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Reboot from the hard drive. Click on the “Accessibility” icon. You need to press quickly, until Windows smells the catch.

We get to the COP, then we use the admin account:

  1. We type the command to activate the admin account: net user Administrator / active: yes. If the computer answers that there is no such name, we simply write net user, and look at the list of all accounts. Most likely, in this case, instead of the bourgeois name of the administrator, you will see “Administrator”. We change the English name of the account in the original command to Russian.
  2. Reboot and calmly enter the operating system under the admin account. By default, it is not password-protected.
  3. Click Start → Computer Management.
  4. We select a local account and set a new password for it.

You can remove the login to the admin account when the system boots using the same command that was used for activation, only at the end yes must be replaced with no.

And what if the computer is not professional, but home Windows? The trick with substituting utilman.exe will also pass. Further, instead of logging in as an administrator, you need to re-password your account. An example of a command is in the previous section of the article. This method is easier.

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Password reset using special programs

Users who do not like to delve into computer troubles will be interested to know how to reset a forgotten password at the entrance of “encrypted” Windows 10 when using third-party software. All utilities sharpened for this purpose use a bootable flash drive or its equivalent. You can get a general idea of ​​the programs according to the table:

  Graphical interface Russian interface Fully functional free version
Dism ++ + + +
Windows Password Key + +
Lazesoft Recover My Password +

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Dism ++

The program contains several utilities, one of them is password protection. Algorithm for using software:

  1. Dism ++ is usually downloaded as an archive. After unzipping, a folder is formed with a long name starting with Dism. Now let’s rename the program directory, leaving only the first 2 letters. This will make it easier not to make mistakes when running the utility from the command line.
  2. Copy the Di folder to the bootable USB flash drive.
  3. We boot from the media and open the COP.
  4. We drive in diskpart, list volume. Looking at the highlighted table, we determine the letter that corresponds to the flash drive. If it is G: \, then the command to start the program will look like: G: \ di \ dism ++ x64.exe or G: \ di \ dism ++ x32.exe, depending on the bitness of the system.
  5. To go to the PC file system, click on the blue rectangle and on “Open Session”.
  6. On the left panel, click “Tools” → “Advanced”, on the right – “Accounts”.
  7. Find your account, click “Reset Password”.
  8. Close the program and reboot from the hard drive.

You can clap your hands: the computer is passwordless.

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WinPassKey

The company has a serious marketing approach to software development. The developer offers users 4 modifications of the utility, differing in functionality and cost. You can create a new user for free with the trial version.

Here are the stages of working with the free version of WinPassKey:

  1. Creating a bootloader on another computer: USB stick or CD / DWD.
  2. Boot from the created media.
  3. The choice of Windows, which is used by the user.
  4. Creation of a new account.

The fully functional version has 4 options:

  • remove password,
  • change Password,
  • delete an account,
  • create a new account.

On the Internet, you can find a version of WinPassKey that looks for a password in the cache or guesses it. However, such options usually fail.

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Lazesoft Recover MyPassword

  1. This program will be a good solution for those who do not have a bootable flash drive. The utility will solve not only the issue of removing the password, but also creating a bootloader. First of all, download Lazesoft Recover Suite, and install the software on another PC. Launch and select the Disk Image & Clone section. In it, at the bottom left, click Build Bootable … Select the Windows you want to work with, and click Next. To create a bootable flash drive, check the USB Flash item. Let’s start. Everything that was on the drive before this will be erased. We boot from the flash drive, and we see the graphical interface of the program. There are only a few steps left to take:
  2. Click Password Recovery.
  3. In the next window – Reset Windows Password and so on.
  4. In the top menu, in the window for selecting the current system, click on the working Windows, and in the bottom – Reset Local Password. Exit the window with Next.
  5. In the list that appears, select your account.
  6. Click RESET / UNLOCK.

We reboot from the hard drive and calmly log in without a password.

In conclusion, it is worth saying a few words about the attempts of some users to reset their password on stubborn Windows 10 through BIOS, since this question is quite popular on the Web. In BIOS, you can create a password to turn on the computer, but this is a slightly different topic that has nothing to do with the operating system. As for the role of the BIOS in password-protecting a Microsoft system, it boils down to the choice of the boot loader.

by Abdullah Sam
I’m a teacher, researcher and writer. I write about study subjects to improve the learning of college and university students. I write top Quality study notes Mostly, Tech, Games, Education, And Solutions/Tips and Tricks. I am a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence or virtue.

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