How to log in and turn off password expiration reminder

If you encounter the "Your password has expired and must be changed" message on the Windows login screen, it's because passwords for Windows local accounts expire every 42 days by default. Luckily, you can quickly bypass this screen and disable the password expiration prompt.

How to log in with an expired password

Once your local account password expires and you see the message "Your password has expired" , you need to create a new password to log in. To create a new password, you must remember your current password. That's the only prerequisite here. Now, let's see the steps:

1. When you see the expiration message on the login screen, click OK to open the password reset screen.
2. Enter current password. Leave blank if account does not have a login password.
3. Next, enter a new password and re-enter it in the Confirm password field . You can reuse your old password if you want. If you don't want to set a password, leave the new password fields blank.
4. Click Next to continue.

When you see the message that your password has been changed, click OK to continue. Now, just log in with your new password.

Turn off password expiration prompts for local accounts

After you sign in, you can disable Windows password expiration using the Local Users and Groups snap-in. This is an advanced feature that is not available in Windows 11 Home. If you have Home, you will first need to enable Local User and Groups Management in Windows Home. Once done, follow these steps:

• Click on the Start menu, type Computer Management and open it from the search results.
• In the Computer Management dialog box , expand Local Users and Groups in the left sidebar.
• Then, double-click the Users folder on the right. This will list all of your user accounts on your computer.

• Right-click the user account for which you want to disable password expiration prompts, and then select Properties .

• In the Properties dialog box , select the Password never expires option .
• Then click OK >  Apply to save changes.

Turn off password expiration for Microsoft accounts

Turning off the password expiration reminder for your Microsoft account is pretty easy and doesn't require any special tools. Here's how to do it:

• Go to account.microsoft.com in your browser and sign in with your Microsoft account.
• Select Security on the left sidebar and click Change password in the upper right corner.

• On the Change your password page , enter your current password, followed by your new password.
• Uncheck the Make me change my password every 72 days option , then click Save .

You can now sign in to your Microsoft account with your new password.

Using a Microsoft account as your primary sign-in method has some benefits, such as automatic backups and syncing. However, a local user account is still a better choice for privacy and security reasons. Resetting a password for a local account is also much easier.

The password expiration feature in Windows is intended to keep user accounts secure by rotating passwords. However, having to change your password every few weeks is often a hassle, especially since it is still less effective than two-factor authentication .