Have you forgotten or lost the Windows 10 user login password of your PC? If you are using a Microsoft account to log in then you can reset it online at Microsoft’s site. But if you have a local admin account and Looking to reset your Windows 10 passwords without using any third-party software? Here is how to change or reset your Windows 10 passwords using the command prompt. It’s very simple and easy you only need Windows 10 installation media to access the command prompt window to Reset Windows 10 Local Admin Password.
Windows 10 password reset
As PC is locked we can t perform any action there, we need to boot from Windows installation media to perform feature steps. If you don’t have Read how to create Windows 10 installation media from here.
- When you are ready with Windows 10 bootable USB or DVD put it and restart your PC,
- Press F12 or F2 key continuously to access the Boot menu,
- Select Boot from DVD or removable disk (if you are using Bootable USB)
- Then press any key to boot from installation media,
- Here on the installation screen press the Shift + F10 key to open the command prompt window.
- Now we are going to Replace the file utilman.exe with cmd.exe and Before you do this, you should make a copy of utilman.exe so that you can restore it later.
- Let’s first identify the drive letter using the Diskpart command.
- Type command list volume display all drive letters with the volume number.
- Note down the drive letter where Windows is installed, for me its D
- Now type command exit to leave from disk part.
- Then type the command cd d: to change the directory,
- Run command, cd windows to then cd system32 to change the directory to there.
- To Backup utilman.exe, use command, copy utilman.exe utilman1.exe
- use command copy cmd.exe cmd1.exe to backup the cmd.exe.
- Now run command del utilman.exe to delete the utilman.exe from there.
- And rename cmd.exe as utilman.exe using the command rename cmd.exe utilman.exe
- That’s all type exit and close command prompt, cancel the installation and let Windows boot normally.
- Now On the Windows 10 sign-in page, click the Utility Manager icon
- This will open the command prompt window.
- Here type command control userpasswords2 and press the enter key.
- This will open the user accounts window, where you can manage user accounts and reset the password.
- Select the user account, and click reset password,
- A new prompt will open here type the new password, for the user account,
- Confirm the new password by re-type the same.
- Click ok, then apply to save changes, close the command prompt window.
- Now type the new password for login to that user account.
Note: Also here on the command prompt window you can run the command
net user Administrator /active:yes
This will enable the hidden administrator account, and allow you to access your Windows PC.
- Press Windows + R, type compmgmt.msc and ok
- Expand local users and groups,
- Select users, then click the user account on the right-hand side,
- Right-click on select set password,
- After that log off from the administrator account and login to user account with the newly created password.
Resetting Windows 10 passwords via command prompt is the best free option to help you unlock a locked PC. However, it could be a big challenge for average users who had never known or used the command prompt in their life. For them, programs with GUI is the preferred method as only a few clicks can reset the password.
Take Androidphonesoft Windows Password Recovery, for example, find another Windows PC and download the program. Then insert a USB and burn the password reset utility to the USB. After that, boot the locked Windows 10 from the USB and remove the password from the target account. This is much faster than using the command prompt for Windows password reset.
Also, you can use Free Windows Password Recovery Tools like Ophcrack, Kon-Boot, Offline NT Password & Registry Editor, to recover Windows passwords. Have you reset the forgotten Windows 10 password? Let us know in the comments below.