The Windows 10 login password helps us protect our computers from unauthorized users. However, as often happens, many users forget their login passwords and are therefore locked out. Unlike other passwords like social media or email accounts, resetting your Windows 10 login password requires a little more complex steps. Fortunately, thanks to free software that fall into the so-called “Windows 10 reset password tool” category, it is possible to reset the Windows 10 password with a few simple steps.
Let’s start to see practically what these methods are and how to proceed with the password reset operation in total safety and reliability.
The first 4 methods could cause data loss, however method 5 performs the operation of restoring a Microsoft account without losing data and it is not necessary, among other things, to format the computer, not foreseen none of the methods shown.
1. Windows 10 reset password using Windows recovery disc
If you have forgotten your password, Windows 10 Recovery Disc provides you with the easiest and most immediate solution to fix the problem. Before starting, make sure you have inserted the windows recovery disc into your PC’s CD / DVD drive.
Once the computer has booted from the CD, click on “Reset or Reset password”, then click on Next.
Click on the drop-down menu, then on the device on which the password reset disk is located. Click Next again.
At this point, type a new password, twice, as required by the Windows password setting policy.
Specify a password hint. Click on Finish.
2. Reset your Windows 10 password using the command prompt
If you don’t have a windows recovery disc available and you have forgotten your login password, you still have another chance to reset your Windows 10 password, but this time you need a disc, any Windows 10 installation disc, i.e. not necessarily the one you used to install the operating system on which you are trying to reset the password.
If you don’t have a Windows 10 installation disc available, you can create one using another computer and burning the Windows 10 ISO file to CD-ROM or USB drive.
After inserting the Windows 10 installation disc into the computer, boot the computer from the disc. From the Windows Setup window, press the Shift + F10 hotkey to open the Command Prompt window.
From this window, run the following commands. Warning: you must replace the letter d, present in the two commands, with the letter of your system drive.
move d:\windows\system32\utilman.exe d:\windows\system32\utilman.exe.bak
copy d:\windows\system32\cmd.exe d:\windows\system32\utilman.exe
After running the previous two commands, remove the Windows 10 installation disc and restart your computer.
From the Windows logon screen, click the Accessibility icon in the lower right corner. This will open a new command prompt window. In this window, run the command that will allow you to reset the Windows 10 password:
net user <username> <password > to set a new login password for the local Windows 10 administrator.
Close the command prompt. You can now log in with the new password.
3. Reset your Windows 10 password using Safe Mode
Safe Mode provides you with one more effective and free Windows 10 password reset tool. To use this tool, you need to know the password of any other account with administrator privileges on your computer. If not, move on to the next method.
Before Windows 10 loads, press “F8”. Choose the option – Safe Mode with Command Prompt and press “Enter”.
Wait for Windows to boot into Safe Mode. Type this command: net users, in the command prompt window, and press “Enter”. You will see all existing user accounts on your computer.
Type this command again net user <username> <password>, where you will specify the user account and a new password, then press the “Enter” key.
Restart the Computer. You can now log into the account with the new password.
4. Reset your Windows 10 password by visiting the password reset link on S.O. Microsoft
To reset the password of a Microsoft account that you use as the Windows 10 operating system, follow the steps below:
From the login screen, choose the name of the Microsoft account you want to restore. Click on the option “I forgot my password”.
From the “Restore your account” window, specify and fill in the fields displayed, then select Next.
From the “Verify Your Identity” window, select an option to receive a security code as a text message or email. If you choose the text message, you must enter the last four digits of your mobile number and select Send code.
When you receive the code via SMS or email, enter it and proceed by clicking on Next.
From the Reset Password screen, type a new password and select Next. Select Next again to return to the login screen and use the new password previously entered to log in.
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5. Reset Windows 10 password with PassFab 4WinKey
As I announced at the beginning of this guide, some of the methods mentioned above are likely to cause data loss. To avoid this, you can use a free third-party password reset tool for Windows 10 such as PassFab 4WinKey.
The software can be downloaded from the following link for Windows operating systems, and from this link for MacOS operating systems.
After downloading and running PassFab 4WinKey on another computer. Choose a CD / DVD or USB drive and click “Next” to burn and create a boot drive with a password reset system.
Wait for the burning process to complete.
Insert the burned drive into the locked computer. Restart it and press “F12” or “ESC” to enter the boot menu.
In the boot menu, choose the drive from which to start the password recovery system, then choose between USB / DVD or CD and press “Enter”.
From the PassFab 4WinKey interface, choose the Windows operating system and click on “Next”.
In step 1, choose the account on which you want to reset the password and type the new password. In step 2, select the operation to be performed.
When the operation is finished, you can restart the computer by clicking on “reboot computer” and finally access the locked PC with your new password.
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6. Conclusion
Each of the methods mentioned above provides you with a tool to reset Windows 10 password for free. Most of these systems have advantages and disadvantages, so their effectiveness may vary from user to user. A common disadvantage is the loss of data that the user may experience when applying them.
Therefore method 5 (i.e. using the PassFab 4WinKey software) is highly recommended. This Windows 10 password recovery tool not only prevents data loss but also comes with an extremely simple to use interface.
In the following video tutorial you can see how to access windows 10 without a password, create new accounts with administrative privileges simply using the operating system installation media, the so-called media creation tool.
With this installation media creation tool for Windows 10, installing a Windows version manually becomes really easy. You just have to follow these steps to get a free copy of Windows 10:
Then, download and run Windows 10 Media Creation Tool, select the “Create installation media for another PC” option, choose the language, architecture and version of Windows to install. Decide whether to create a Flash drive or ISO file.