How to Reset a Forgotten Windows 11 Local Account Password

How to Recover a Forgotten Local Windows 11 Password

Forgetting your Windows password can be incredibly frustrating. If you use a Microsoft Account to log in, resetting your password is as easy as clicking “I forgot my password” on the lock screen and following the email prompts. However, if you use a Local Account (an offline account not tied to an email address) and haven’t set up security questions or a password reset disk, the process requires a bit of a workaround.

Below is a reliable method to reset a local Windows 11 password using the Accessibility Options menu on the lock screen. You will need a bootable Windows 11 installation USB drive to perform this trick.

Step 1: Boot from a Windows 11 Installation USB

Because you cannot log into Windows, we need to boot the computer from an external drive to make changes to the system files.

1. If you don’t have one, use another computer to create a Windows 11 Installation USB drive using Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool.
2. Insert the USB drive into the locked computer.
3. Restart the computer and repeatedly press your manufacturer’s boot menu key (often F12, F8, F10, or Esc) before Windows loads.
4. Select the USB drive to boot from it.
5. When the Windows Setup screen appears, do not click Install. Instead, press Shift + F10 on your keyboard. This will open a Command Prompt window.

Step 2: Replace the Accessibility Tool with Command Prompt

We are going to temporarily replace the Utility Manager (the accessibility icon on the lock screen) with the Command Prompt, giving us admin access without logging in.

1. In the Command Prompt, you need to find the drive letter where Windows is installed. Type C: and press Enter, then type dir and press Enter. If you see folders like “Program Files” and “Windows”, you are on the right drive. If not, try D: or E: until you find it.
2. Once on the correct drive (we will assume C: for this example), navigate to the System32 folder by typing cd \Windows\System32 and pressing Enter.
3. Now, we will back up the Utility Manager by typing: ren utilman.exe utilman.exe.bak and pressing Enter.
4. Next, we will copy the Command Prompt to take its place by typing: copy cmd.exe utilman.exe and pressing Enter.
5. Type exit to close the Command Prompt, then close the Windows Setup window to restart your computer normally. Remove the USB drive.

Step 3: Reset Your Password from the Lock Screen

Now that the computer has restarted, we can use our hidden Command Prompt.

1. At the Windows 11 lock screen, click the Accessibility icon in the bottom right corner (the icon that looks like a person).
2. Instead of the accessibility menu, a Command Prompt window will open!
3. Type net user and press Enter to see a list of all accounts on the computer. Note the exact spelling of your username.
4. Type net user "YourUsername" "NewPassword" (replace YourUsername with your actual username, and NewPassword with the password you want). For example: net user "John Doe" "Pass1234". Press Enter.
5. You should see a message saying “The command completed successfully.”
6. Close the Command Prompt and log in with your new password!

Step 4: Restore the Accessibility Tool (Optional but Recommended)

Leaving the Command Prompt accessible from the lock screen is a security risk. To put things back to normal:

1. Boot from the Windows 11 USB drive again and press Shift + F10 at the setup screen.
2. Navigate back to System32: C: then cd \Windows\System32
3. Delete the fake Utility Manager: del utilman.exe
4. Restore the original: ren utilman.exe.bak utilman.exe
5. Restart your computer.