How to change account password in Windows 11

Even if you prefer using a PIN to logging in with a regular password, you can still set your account password as a backup option. This is a convenient way to sign in if you forget your PIN or get an error. But what if you forget your account password?

You can change your account password in Windows 11 from the Settings app. If you don't remember your password, you can reset it from Command Prompt. Today's article will show you many ways to change your account password in Windows 11.

1. Change account password with Ctrl + Alt + Delete

The Ctrl + Alt + Delete combination is often used if an application is making the PC unresponsive and if you want to perform a reboot or access the Task Manager. However, this keystroke also provides access to other useful tools, including the option to change the password.

Follow these steps to quickly change your account password from the Ctrl+Alt+Delete user menu:

1. Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete on your keyboard to see the available options.

2. Next, click the Change a password option .

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3. Next, enter your old account password.

4. Next, you need to provide a new password and confirm.

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5. Press Enter or click the arrow icon on the right to change the password.

It's a quick way to change your account password. If this doesn't work, you can use the Settings app to do the same.

2. Change account password through Settings app

You can easily change your local account password from the Settings app. However, to do this, you must know your current account password. Otherwise, skip to the password reset method below.

To change the account password:

1. Press Win + I to open Settings.

2. In the left pane, open the Accounts tab.

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3. Next, click Sign-in options.

4. Click and expand the Password option.

5. Click Change and enter your current password.

6. Click Next.

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7. Next, enter the new password twice to confirm.

8. You can also add a password hint. If not, leave it blank.

9. Click Next and then click Finish to save the changes.

3. Reset Windows user account password with User Accounts (if forgot password)

If you don't know your current password but can sign in with an alternative option, you can reset your password using the User Accounts utility. It allows you to add or remove user accounts and reset passwords without the current password.

Note that you can only reset the password for another user account, not the one you are currently logged in to. Make sure to login with another admin account. If there is no other account with admin privileges, you can enable the built-in admin account in Windows 11 and reset the user account password.

To reset the user account password:

1. Log out of the account for which you want to reset the password and log in with another user account.

2. Next, press Win + R to open Run.

3. Enter netplwiz and click OK.

4. Select the user account to reset the password in the User Accounts dialog box.

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5. Next, click the Reset Password button.

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6. In the Reset Password dialog box , enter your new password and confirm it.

7. Click OK to save the changes.

8. Close the User Account dialog box and you can now log in with your new password.

4. Reset account password using Command Prompt

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An easy way to change your account password is through the Command Prompt. Again, this is useful if you want to change your password without knowing the old password.

To reset the password, you can use the net user command followed by the new username and password. Follow these steps to change your account password using Command Prompt:

1. Press Win + X to open the WinX menu.

2. Click Terminal (Admin) from the menu. Click Yes if prompted by UAC.

3. In Windows Terminal, click the drop-down button near the New Tab icon and select Command Prompt.

4. In the Command Prompt tab, type the following command and press Enter to see all available user accounts on the computer:

net user

5. Next, type the following command and press Enter to reset the password for the specified user account:

net user username newpassword

6. In the above command, replace username with your account username and new password with the password you want to set.

For example, if you wanted to reset the password for the Guest user account, the entire command would look like this:

net user guest guest@123

Make sure to use a password with a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and preferably special characters to create strong passwords. You may also want to record it in the meantime.

7. Once the password is reset, you will see the command completed successfully in the Command Prompt.

8. Type exit and press Enter to close Command Prompt.

5. Change account password using Control Panel

The classic Control Panel still has most of the system settings intact. You can use it in Windows 11 to change your user account password and more.

To change your Windows account password using Control Panel:

1. Press Win + R to open Run.

2. Enter control and click OK.

3. In the Control Panel , go to User Accounts and then click User Accounts again.

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4. Next, click Manage another account.

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5. Select the user account for which you want to change the password.

6. Next, click the Change the password option under Make changes to User's account .

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7. Enter your current password and then enter your new password. Confirm the new password and enter a hint. This will be useful if you forget your password again.

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8. Click Change password to save the changes.

6. Change account password with Local Users and Groups

Snap-in Local Users and Groups allows you to make advanced changes to your user account. You can use it to set password expiration dates for Windows user accounts, add account expiration dates, and restrict users from changing account passwords.

In addition, it also allows you to reset your user account password. Follow these steps to change the user account password using lusrmgr.

1. Press Win + R to open Run.

2. Enter lusrmgr.exe and click OK.

3. In the Local Users and Groups dialog box , select the Users folder.

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4. In the right pane, right-click the user account and select Set Password . This will trigger a password reset warning. Read the description and click Proceed.

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5. Next, enter your new password and confirm the same password in the given field.

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6. Click OK to reset the password and save the changes.

How to change Microsoft account password

If you sign in with a Microsoft account, you can reset the password for your Microsoft account online. Here's how to do it: How to change your Microsoft account password.

You can easily change your Windows account password if you remember your current password or have an alternative login option. If you're locked out of your PC, these methods won't work.

However, you can still reset your forgotten admin account password by using the trick with Command Prompt and Windows Recovery Environment.

Isabella Humphrey

Update 07 July 2023