How to change account password in Windows 11

Despite Microsoft's efforts to push more users to use Windows Hello- based sign-in options , the old password-based sign-in is still a part of Windows 11. And for good reason.

Even if you prefer using a PIN instead of logging in with a regular password, you can still set up an account password as a backup option. This is a convenient way to log in if you forget your PIN or have an error. But what if you forget your account password?

You can change your account password in Windows 11 from the Settings app. If you don't remember your password, you can reset it from the Command Prompt. Today's article will show you multiple ways to change your account password in Windows 11 .

1. Change account password with Ctrl + Alt + Delete

Ctrl + Alt + Delete is commonly used if an application is causing your PC to become unresponsive and if you want to perform a restart or access Task Manager . However, this key combination also provides access to other useful tools, including the option to change your password.

Follow these steps to quickly change your account password from the Ctrl + Alt + Delete user menu:

1. Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete on your keyboard to see available options.

2. Next, click on the Change a password option .

3. Next, enter your old account password.

4. Next, you need to provide a new password and confirm it.

5. Press Enter or click the right arrow icon to change your password.

That's a quick way to change your account password. If that doesn't work, you can use the Settings app to do the same thing.

2. Change account password via Settings application

You can easily change your local account password from the Settings app. However, to do this, you must know your current account password. If not, skip to the password reset method below.

To change your account password:

1. Press Win + I to open Settings .

2. In the left pane, open the Accounts tab.

3. Next, click on Sign-in options.

4. Click and expand the Password option.

5. Click Change and enter your current password.

6. Click Next.

7. Next, enter the new password twice to confirm.

8. You can also add a password hint. Otherwise, leave it blank.

9. Click Next and then click Finish to save the changes.

3. Reset Windows user account password using User Accounts (if you forgot your password)

If you don't know your current password but can log in using an alternate option, you can reset your password using the User Accounts utility. It allows you to add or remove user accounts and reset passwords without needing your current password.

Note that you can only reset the password for another user account, not the one you're currently logged in to. Make sure you're logged in with another admin account. If you don't have another account with admin privileges, you can enable the built-in Windows 11 admin account and reset the user account password.

To reset user account password:

1. Log out of the account whose password you want to reset and log in with another user account.

2. Next, press Win + R to open Run .

3. Type netplwiz and click OK.

4. Select the user account to reset the password for in the User Accounts dialog box.

5. Next, click on the Reset Password button.

6. In the Reset Password dialog box , enter your new password and confirm it.

7. Click OK to save the changes.

8. Close the User Account dialog box and you can now log in with your new password.

4. Reset account password using Command Prompt

An easy way to change your account password is through Command Prompt . Again, this is useful if you want to change your password without knowing the old password.

To reset your password, you can use the net user command followed by your username and new password. Follow these steps to change your account password using Command Prompt:

1. Press Win + X to open the WinX menu.

2. Click Terminal (Admin) from the menu. Click Yes if prompted by UAC.

3. In Windows Terminal, click the drop-down button near the New Tab icon and select Command Prompt.

4. In the Command Prompt tab, type the following command and press Enter to view all user accounts available on the computer:

net user

5. Next, type the following command and press Enter to reset the password for the specified user account:

net user username newpassword

6. In the above command, replace username with the account username and new password with the password you want to set.

For example, if you wanted to reset the password for the Guest user account, the entire command would look like this:

net user guest guest@123

Make sure to use a password that has a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers, and preferably special characters to create a strong password. You may also want to write it down during this time.

7. Once the password is reset, you will see a message that the command completed successfully in Command Prompt.

8. Type exit and press Enter to close Command Prompt.

5. Change account password using Control Panel

The classic Control Panel still has most of the system settings functionality intact. You can use it in Windows 11 to change your user account password and more.

To change your Windows account password using Control Panel:

1. Press Win + R to open Run.

2. Type control and click OK.

3. In Control Panel , go to User Accounts and then click User Accounts again.

4. Next, click Manage another account.

5. Select the user account whose password you want to change.

6. Next, click on the Change the password option under Make changes to User's account .

7. Enter your current password and then enter a new password. Confirm the new password and enter a hint. This will be helpful if you forget your password again.

8. Click Change password to save the changes.

6. Change account password using Local Users and Groups

The Local Users and Groups snap-in allows you to make advanced changes to your user accounts. You can use it to set password expiration dates for Windows user accounts, add account expiration dates, and restrict users from changing account passwords.

Additionally, it also allows you to reset your user account password. Follow these steps to change your user account password using lusrmgr.

1. Press Win + R to open Run.

2. Type lusrmgr.exe and click OK.

3. In the Local Users and Groups dialog box , select the Users folder.

4. In the right pane, right-click the user account and select Set Password . This will trigger the password reset prompt. Read the description and click Proceed.

5. Next, enter your new password and confirm the same password in the given field.

6. Click OK to reset your password and save your changes.

How to change Microsoft account password

If you sign in with a Microsoft account, you can reset your Microsoft account password online. Here's how to do it: How to change your Microsoft account password .

You can easily change your Windows account password if you remember your current password or have an alternative sign-in option. If you're locked out of your PC, these methods won't work.

However, you can still reset your forgotten admin account password using a trick with Command Prompt and Windows Recovery Environment.