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How to Reset a Forgotten Windows Password

Getting locked out of your own PC is stressful, but a forgotten Windows password almost never means losing your files or reinstalling Windows. The password is just a setting stored on the drive, so you can clear it from outside Windows entirely by booting from a USB stick, then sign straight back in. Here’s the safe way to do it.

This clears the password on a local Windows account. If you sign in with a Microsoft account (an email address), you’ll usually reset that online at account.microsoft.com instead, though you can convert the account to local from here if you’re fully locked out.

Step by step

1. Boot the FATALnet stick on the locked PC and open Windows Account Recovery from the on-screen menu, no commands to type.
2. Choose the Windows installation it finds on the drive. Most PCs have just one; if there are several, pick the one you log into.
3. Select the user account that’s locked out from the list.
4. Clear the password. The account is left with no password set.
5. Restart and remove the stick, Windows boots to the desktop, and you can set a fresh password from inside Windows.

What to expect

Your files, programs, and settings are all untouched, only the password changes. If the account is a Microsoft (online) account rather than a local one, clearing the local password won’t change the online one; reset that at Microsoft’s site, or switch the account to local first.