Did you forget your Windows 10 password and can't access your PC anymore? Don't worry, you can reset Windows 10 password very easily
Did you forget your Windows 10 password? Don't worry, it can happen to anyone and there is a way to fix it. Losing or forgetting your password is something much less rare than you might think and it happens to thousands of people around the world, every day. Maybe you just changed it and haven't memorized it yet, and can't find the note where you wrote it down. Or you remember it but miss a number or a letter, and Windows won't let you log in. Or you simply want to reset it because you just caught malware that could get a hold of your login and password.
Either way, here's how to reset your Windows 10 password so you can log in to the operating system if you forgot your old one. We'll explain two methods: the first one is useful if you sign in to Windows with a Microsoft account, the second one if you've never set up your Microsoft account and only have a local account stored on your PC.
How to recover Win 10 password with a Microsoft account
If you have a Microsoft account and forgot your password, you need to click on "Recover Password" right below the field where you enter your password. At the "Recover your account" screen, enter the email you used to register your Microsoft account and the captcha you see on the screen, then click "Next". Immediately after that you have to choose one of the possible options to have Microsoft send you the unlock code: receive an email to the address linked to the account, receive a message or a call to the phone number linked to the account. Choose your favorite and click "Send code". The code will be sent to you by the method you chose, within a few minutes. On the next screen you will have to enter it and if it is correct, you will be asked to reset your password. The next screen will tell you that your password has been successfully changed, so you can click "Next" to return to the Windows 10 login screen where you can enter your new password and log in to the operating system.
If you have a Microsoft account, you can also choose another option: reset your password directly from the Microsoft account site. Here you will have to click on "Sign in to Microsoft" and enter the email address of the account. When you are asked for your password, you will have to choose the "Forgot Password" option. The password recovery screen will appear, with the usual captcha to fill in and the usual options for sending the code.
Here you can also choose to go another way: have the code sent to a different mailbox than the account. Instead of choosing one of the proposed methods click on "None of these" and enter the alternative email address on the next screen, then click on "Next". At this point you have to access this mailbox, where you will find a message from Microsoft through which you will have to prove that "it's really you". Otherwise, anyone could change the password of your PC easily.
Answer the questions and, on the next screen, enter one of the previous passwords you used for the Microsoft account you want to change. On the next screen, enter the email addresses of all the contacts you sent messages to and click "Next". At this point, Microsoft will send a message to your alternate email address to let you know if you have provided enough information to confirm your identity. If the information is enough, the email you received will contain a link that you can click on to reset your password.
How to reset your password for your Windows 10 local account
To reset your password on a local account on a computer running Windows 10, you first need to do one crucial step: set up security questions while you still remember your password and can access your PC.
To do this, log into Windows and open Settings by clicking on the gear in the Start menu, select "Accounts" and click on the "Login Options". On the Login Options screen, click on "Update Security Questions" (this option will not be visible if you have not yet set a password for your local account). Now type in your password, choose the three security questions in each field and type in the answers for each of them, then click "Finish".
When, in the future, you can't log in to Windows 10 because you forgot your password, Microsoft's operating system will give you the option to reset it by asking you to answer the three security questions. If all three answers are correct, you'll be able to reset your Win 10 password.