Windows 10: what is relationship of MS PIN to account and/or device

Long story, please bear with me. About 3 years ago I bought a new laptop from dell, with Win 10. As part of the initial setup it asked me for a PIN. This was a new thing, compared to all of my previous machines, dating back to Win 3 and working through Win 7. So, I entered a PIN and that's what I'm prompted for when I log on. That machine has since been upgraded to Win 11.Then last year I bought another new Dell for my wife, again with Win10. And again as part of the initial setup, it asked for my MS account credentials and a PIN. This time, not really knowing exactly what all the pin

:)

 

OSK PIN login on non-touch device

Hello,

I suggest you to create a PIN for your device and try the on screen keyboard to login to the same.

You may follow the steps below to create PIN protection for your device.

• 
  Go to Settings and select account.
  
• 
  Click on sign in option and Go to PIN option.
  
• 
  Now click on Add and set PIN for login.
  

You can use the same PIN to login to your device using the on screen Keyboard from ease of access option and verify the result.

Please get back to us with updated status. We will be happy to assist you further.

 

PIN issue - signing in on a different computer

Hi Zelina,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community forum.



A PIN is local to the device. It isn’t transmitted anywhere and it isn’t stored on the server unlike password. When a PIN is created, it establishes a trusted relationship with the identity provider and creates an asymmetric key pair that is used for
authentication. PIN is tied to the specific device on which it was set up. That PIN is of no use without that specific hardware.



You can bypass the option to sign in with PIN while setting up the account on PC. You may try the steps listed below and check if it works:

• Sign in with your boyfriend’s account.
  
• Press Win + R keys together on the keyboard to open the Run dialog and type the following into the Run box: netplwiz
  
• Remove your account from there.
  
• Add your account again, skip the PIN setup when it prompts you to.
  

Hope it helps,

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