Windows 10: Old password not recognized after adding PIN; How can I recover the password, change it, or...

Sometime at or after adding a PIN to sign-in to a user account on my local machine, Windows 10 ceased to recognize my old password as correct (perhaps I am not remembering the password correctly, but I doubt that). It does recognize and report the hint I created years ago but that is not helpful as I know the password. There are no security questions as the user account was imported from a Windows 7 installation.


So far, that is not a huge problem as the PIN can be used instead in most situations. Only a password will work when you attempt to change the password, however. Also, I suspect you cannot create a password recovery disk without the password (I am guessing here, however, as the link to that program also does not work). And there may be other cases when only a password will work that I have just not encountered yet.


I know I cannot recover the old password. But is there some way to convince Windows 10 that there is none stored for my user account and set a new password, using the PIN to verify my bona fides? Or another solution short of a full Windows reinstallation?

:)

 

Microsoft Account PIN and password

We appreciate the screenshot that you provided. to start troubleshooting the issue with you logins, we suggest that you follow the steps below on how login pin goes back to password:

• Click Start menu and go to Settings.
• In Settings, click the Accounts icon.
• Click on Sign-in options.
• Change both your password and pin one by one.

Let us know how it goes.

 

Windows 10 Change password to pin

Hi Ana,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community. I regret the inconvenience caused to you. Let me help you.



Please share the details.

• 
  Are you able to log in to your desktop?
  
• 
  Do you see any error code along with the error message?
  

I suggest you to go through the below steps and check if it helps.

Follow these steps to set up a PIN on your Windows User Account:

• 
  Press the Windows +S key combination to display the Search box.
  
• 
  Type the word pin into the Search box, then click
  Set up PIN sign-in.
  
• 
  Find the “PIN” section and click the Add button.
  
• 
  Type in the password for your User Account, then click the
  Ok button.
  
• 
  Select and enter a 4 digit numeric pin, then enter it again for confirmation.
  
• 
  Exit the PIN setup utility.
  

From now on you’ll be able to log in to your Windows account by entering your 4 digit PIN instead of your password.



You can change your PIN at any time by following the steps below:

• 
  Press the Windows +S key combination to display the Search box.
  
• 
  Type the word pin into the Search box, then click Set up PIN sign-in.
  
• 
  Find the “PIN” section and click the Change button.
  
• 
  Enter your Windows password, then click the
  Ok button.
  
• 
  Select and enter a new 4 digit numeric pin, then enter it again for confirmation.
  
• 
  Click the Finish button.
  
• 
  Exit the PIN setup utility.
  

Check if it helps.



I hope the information helps. Please keep us posted on the issue. We will be happy to assist you accordingly.

Thank you.

 

Changing from password to pin

Hi Alison,

It's good to know that you want to use the PIN option to sign in to your computer. It's great as well that you've already set up a password, since setting up a password is one of the steps for you to be able to use the
PIN option. Here's the steps on how to set up a PIN:

• Go to Settings.
• Click on Accounts.
• Choose Sign-in options, then click Add under the PIN option.
• Follow the prompt until you finish the setup.

Once done, you may lock your screen and try your PIN in
Sign-in options.

We're looking forward to your feedback.