Windows 10: Change Maximum & Minimum Password Age for Local Accounts in Windows 10

How to: Change Maximum & Minimum Password Age for Local Accounts in Windows 10

How to Change Maximum and Minimum Password Age for Local Accounts in Windows 10


Information Password expiration is a feature in Windows that forces a local account on the PC to change their passwords when a specified maximum (42 days by default) and minimum ( 0 days by default) password age has been reached.

The Maximum password age policy setting determines the period of time (in days) that a password can be used before the system requires the user to change it. You can set passwords to expire after a number of days between 1 and 999, or you can specify that passwords never expire by setting the number of days to 0. If Maximum password age is between 1 and 999 days, the minimum password age must be less than the maximum password age. If Maximum password age is set to 0, Minimum password age can be any value between 0 and 998 days.

The Minimum password age policy setting determines the period of time (in days) that a password can be used before the system requires the user to change it. You can set passwords to expire after a number of days between 1 and 999, or you can specify that passwords never expire by setting the number of days to 0. If Maximum password age is between 1 and 999 days, the minimum password age must be less than the maximum password age. If Maximum password age is set to 0, Minimum password age can be any value between 0 and 998 days.

This tutorial will show you how to change the maximum and minimum password age for local accounts in Windows 10.

You must be signed in as an administrator to change the maximum and minimum password age.



Warning You must have password expiration enabled for a local account to have the set maximum and minimum password age enforced.


CONTENTS:

• Option One: To Change Maximum Password Age for Local Accounts using Local Security Policy
• Option Two: To Change Minimum Password Age for Local Accounts using Local Security Policy
• Option Three: To Change Maximum Password Age for Local Accounts using Command Prompt
• Option Four: To Change Minimum Password Age for Local Accounts using Command Prompt

EXAMPLE: "Your password has expired and must be changed" at sign-in
















OPTION ONE [/i] To Change Maximum Password Age for Local Accounts using Local Security Policy


Note Local Security Policy is only available in the Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.

All editions can use Option Three below.


1. Press the Win+R keys to open Run, type secpol.msc into Run, and click/tap on OK to open Local Security Policy.

2. Navigate to Account Policies and Password Policy in the left pane of Local Security Policy. (see screenshot below)



3. In the right pane of Password Policy, double click/tap on the Maximum password age policy. (see screenshot above)

4. Type in a number between 0 and 999 for how many days you want a password can be used before it expires, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)


Note The default setting is 42 days.

You can specify that passwords never expire by setting the number of days to 0.

The minimum password age must be less than the maximum password age.





5. When finished, you can close the Local Security Policy window if you like.

6. If you like, you can force local accounts to change their password at next sign-in to enforce your changes to minimum and maximum password age.





OPTION TWO [/i] To Change Minimum Password Age for Local Accounts using Local Security Policy


Note Local Security Policy is only available in the Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.

All editions can use Option Four below.


1. Press the Win+R keys to open Run, type secpol.msc into Run, and click/tap on OK to open Local Security Policy.

2. Navigate to Account Policies and Password Policy in the left pane of Local Security Policy. (see screenshot below)



3. In the right pane of Password Policy, double click/tap on the Minimum password age policy. (see screenshot above)

4. Type in a number between 0 and 998 for how many days you want a password can be changed after, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)


Note The default setting is 0 days.

The minimum password age must be less than the maximum password age.





5. When finished, you can close the Local Security Policy window if you like.

6. If you like, you can force local accounts to change their password at next sign-in to enforce your changes to minimum and maximum password age.





OPTION THREE [/i] To Change Maximum Password Age for Local Accounts using Command Prompt
1. Open an elevated command prompt.

2. Enter the command below into the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and make note of the current maximum and minimum password age. (see screenshot below)
*Arrow net accounts




3. Enter the command below into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
*Arrow net accounts /maxpwage:days



Note Substitute days in the command above with a number between 1 and 999 for how many days you want a password can be used before it expires.

The default setting is 42 days.

The minimum password age must be less than the maximum password age.





4. When finished, you can close the elevated command prompt if you like.

5. If you like, you can force local accounts to change their password at next sign-in to enforce your changes to minimum and maximum password age.





OPTION FOUR [/i] To Change Minimum Password Age for Local Accounts using Command Prompt
1. Open an elevated command prompt.

2. Enter the command below into the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and make note of the current maximum and minimum password age. (see screenshot below)
*Arrow net accounts




3. Enter the command below into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
*Arrow net accounts /minpwage:days



Note Substitute days in the command above with a number between 1 and 998 for how many days you want a password can be changed after.

The default setting is 0 days.

The minimum password age must be less than the maximum password age.





4. When finished, you can close the elevated command prompt if you like.

5. If you like, you can force local accounts to change their password at next sign-in to enforce your changes to minimum and maximum password age.

That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Enforce Password History for Local Accounts in Windows 10
• How to Enable or Disable Password Expiration for Local Accounts in Windows 10
• How to Add Password to Local Account in Windows 10
• How to Allow or Prevent User to Change Password in Windows 10
• How to Change Password of Local Account or Microsoft Account in Windows 10
• How to Change Minimum Password Length for Local Accounts in Windows 10
• How to Force Local Account to Change Password at Next Sign-in in Windows 10
• How to Reset Password of Local Account or Microsoft Account in Windows 10
• How to Remove Password of Local Account in Windows 10
• How to Change Account Lockout Threshold for Local Accounts in Windows 10
• How to Change Account Lockout Duration for Local Accounts in Windows 10
• How to Change Reset Account Lockout Counter for Local Accounts in Windows 10

:)

 

Local Account password changed to Online Account Password

Hi,

I suggest you to follow the steps on how to switch from Microsoft account to Local account:

• Click on search in taskbar and type account.
• Click on Accounts.
• Now, under Your account, click on Sign in with Local account instead.
• Enter your Microsoft account password for confirmation and then follow the screen instruction.
• Enter User name credentials for your the Local account and click OK.
• Now, login to Local account.

Hope it helps.

 

Asking to change password every time the computer wakes up from Sleep

Hello Raj,

Password expiration is a feature in Windows that forces a local account on the PC to change their passwords when a specified maximum (42 days by default) and minimum ( 0 days by default) password age has been reached. Follow the steps provided below to disable
password expiration:

• Press Windows key + X > Go to Command Prompt (Admin).
• Type wmic UserAccount set PasswordExpires=False > Hit
  Enter.
• Close the window and check if the error still appears.

Note: Replace UserAccount with the actual user name of the
local account that you want to disable the password expiration.

Keep us updated with the result.

 

The password you entered doesn't meet password policy requirements.

Pro

Windows 10 Pro ver 1709 build 16299.309

already did that 2 days ago

no change

from Group Policy Management

Computer Configuration - Windows Settings - Security Settings - Account Policy - Password Policy

Policy Security Setting

Enforce password history:
0 passwords remembered

Maximum password age: 0

Minimum password age: 0 days

Minimum password length: 0 characters

Password must meet complexity requirements: Disabled

Store passwords using reversible encryption: Disabled

*********************************

from Local Security Policy (secpol.msc)

Security Settings - Account Policy - Password Policy

Policy Security Setting

Enforce password history: 0 passwords remembered

Maximum password age: 0

Minimum password age: 0 days

Minimum password length: 0 characters

Password must meet complexity requirements: Disabled

Store passwords using reversible encryption: Disabled

 

Forgot Local account password

Hi,



Thank you for posting in Microsoft Community, we appreciate your interest in Windows 10.



I understand the inconvenience caused to you as you do not remember the local account password, we will help you with this issue.



Kindly let us know if you have Microsoft account on your computer.



If so, I suggest you to log-in with the Microsoft account and change the password for the local account.

Follow these steps:

• Press Windows key, type Settings
  and press Enter.
• Then click on Change PC settings.
  
  (If you're using a mouse, point to the lower-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer up, click
  Settings, and then click Change PC settings.)
• Tap Accounts, and then click Sign-in options.
• Tap Change your password and follow the instructions.

For reference: Passwords in Windows: FAQ

(Applies to Windows 10 as well)





Hope it helps. Kindly update the status of the issue, we will be happy to help you.

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

As you may already know, Windows 10 (as well as Windows 8) allow you to log in with a valid Microsoft account, instead of creating a local account that only works on your machine. However, you may prefer to keep a local account for privacy reasons. If you do, though, some Windows 10 features—like Cortana—may not work. Despite the default behavior, the Windows 10 Store is not one of them. You can still log in to your Microsoft account for just the Store without switching to a full Microsoft account. The process, however, is not terribly obvious. To do so, follow these steps:

• Launch the Store from your Start menu.
• Click the user icon next to the search box.
• Click “Sign-in” from the menu that appears.
• Choose “Microsoft account” and log in like normal.
• When the “Make it yours” box appears do not enter your password. Instead, click “Sign in to just this app instead.”

from Lifehacker