Passwords protect the data of our user accounts. If you forget your Windows 10 password, it can be very annoying. But no need to get nervous. There are ways to get a security code emailed to you or answer security questions when your account is locked. In this article, we will show you how to proceed to solve this problem.
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Forgot Windows 10 password
If you have forgotten your Windows 10 password, you can easily reset it. All you need is an email address and an internal Windows function. First, go to the Windows 10 login screen and then follow these steps:
- Deliberately enter a wrong password once and confirm with Enter.
- Below the input field for mail address and password, you will then see the option with “Reset password”. Click on it.
- Enter an e-mail address. You will receive a code to this address.
- Enter your code at your PC. You can then change your password and log in again.

If you forgot the Windows 10 password and the account is not an administrator, you can reset the password with administrator privileges. This is how it works:
- With the key combination [Windows]+ [R] to open the Run window.
- Enter “control userpasswords2”.
- Select the desired user. This user should be assigned to the group “Users”. Click on “Reset password” to set a new password.
- Confirm with “OK”. Now you should be able to log in to the account in question with the new password.

By the way, you can also easily remove your Windows 10 password and thus bypass the login.
Reinstallation as a last resort
It gets difficult if you have forgotten your Windows 10 password and cannot log in to your Microsoft account at the same time. If you also do not have administrator rights, then the only last resort is to completely delete your data. You should know that all data will be deleted from your computer. It is almost impossible to recover them
You can prepare yourself for such a case by regularly creating Windows backups and saving them on an external hard drive. This is how you can proceed with the complete deletion if you forget your Windows 10 password:
- After you start your PC, click the power icon on the bottom right of the lock screen.
- Along with holding down the [Shift] key, click on “Restart”.
- This will open the startup options where you can click on “Troubleshoot”. Then select “Reset this PC” and “Remove everything”. This will allow you to reset your PC again.

Windows 10 password reset with security questions
Windows security questions can be very helpful if you forget your Windows 10 password. Especially if you log in with a local account instead of a Microsoft one. In the first variant, you can use the function with sending a code to your mail address.
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This way you can create it and you should definitely do that if you forgot your Windows 10 password and security questions:
Set Windows 10 security questions and change password
- At the bottom of the search bar, type “login options” and then confirm with Enter.
- Then click on “Update security questions” in the “Password” section.
- A window will open where you can set the security questions for your Windows account.
- Set the 3 security questions with the corresponding answers and click on “Finish”. These security questions can be changed at any time later.

If you forget your Windows 10 password, you can restore it pretty quickly with the security questions. This is how you get to the questions:
- If you have forgotten your Windows 10 password, click on “Reset password”. A prompt for the security questions will appear.
- Note that you need to answer all 3 questions correctly to reset your password.
- A prompt to set a new password will appear. Enter your new password and confirm with [ENTER].
- After that, you can log back into your account with the new password.

What to do if you forgot the Windows 10 password and security questions?
If you have forgotten the Windows 10 password and security questions and can’t remember everything, the only option is to delete the data. A local account cannot be unlocked with the mail feature mentioned above. Regular Windows 10 backups are therefore very important.
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Our conclusion
Even if you have forgotten your Windows 10 password, there are ways to solve this problem. Nevertheless, you should be prepared if you have to delete your data in an emergency in order to unlock your user account again. A backup on an external hard drive can be very helpful. Still have questions about this topic? Let us know in the comments!
