PC Forgot Your Windows PIN? PIN vs Password, and Getting Back In
If you forgot your Windows PIN, your files are not lost. On most home PCs you can reset the PIN right from the sign-in screen, as long as this PC is signed in with a Microsoft account. You do not need to reinstall Windows or pay anyone to fix it.
A PIN is different from your password. The PIN lives on this PC only and works on this PC only. Your Microsoft account password is the one you use for Outlook, OneDrive, and your Microsoft account online, and that password is what proves it is you during a reset.
Before you start, get three things ready. You will need your Microsoft account password, an internet connection for this PC, and a phone or second device where Microsoft can send a verification code. If you do not know the password, the steps below show what to try next.
Part of the Locked Out of Your Microsoft Account, Outlook or Windows? Recovery in Plain English series, the pillar guide for this cluster.
How a Windows PIN is different from your password
Windows gives you two different ways to prove who you are, and they are not copies of each other. Your PIN is made on this PC and stays on this PC. If you use the same Microsoft account on a laptop and a desktop, each one can have its own PIN, and neither PIN works on the other machine.
Your Microsoft account password belongs to the account, not to one PC. It's the password you use for Outlook email, OneDrive, and Microsoft services online, and it's also the password that can sign you in on other PCs with that account.
That split is why forgetting the PIN is a smaller problem than it feels at the sign-in screen. Your account password hasn't changed just because the PIN is forgotten, and the files on this PC haven't been deleted or moved. They are still on this PC, behind a sign-in you need to restore.
It also works in reverse when you set a new PIN. Changing the PIN on this PC leaves your Microsoft account password exactly as it was. It leaves any PIN on another PC unchanged too, because each PIN is tied to the machine where you created it.
First, check whether this PC uses a Microsoft account
Start by looking at the name shown above the PIN box. If you see an email address under your name, such as [email protected], this PC is using a Microsoft account. That means you can use the reset in the next section.
Before you reset anything, select Sign-in options under the PIN box, then select the password option. If you know your Microsoft account password, enter it and press Enter. It may sign you in at once, with no PIN reset needed. If it does not work, stay on this screen.
Next, look at the network icon in the bottom right corner. Your PC needs to be online for the reset, so connect to Wi-Fi if you are not connected already. Keep a phone or a second device nearby, in case a verification code is sent to it.
If the screen shows only a user name and no email address, this PC is likely using a local account. The next steps will not fit it. Skip ahead to 'If this PC uses a local account instead' below.
Reset a forgotten PIN from the sign-in screen
The steps below work on both Windows 10 and Windows 11. You will follow one sequence for both versions. The only small differences are the exact wording of the forgot PIN link and where a few icons sit on the screen, so the steps will still match what you see. Take your time and read each screen before you select a button.
- Stay on the sign-in screen and select "I forgot my PIN" under the PIN box. Wait while Windows loads the Microsoft account sign-in window. It can take a minute, and the screen may go blank briefly. Do not restart the PC while it is loading.
- When the sign-in window opens, check that the email address shown is the one for this PC. Type your Microsoft account password, then select Sign in. Type it slowly if you need to, because the dots in the box hide each character as you enter it.
- Next, complete the check that Windows offers for your account. Windows may send a code to your phone or email address, or it may ask you to approve a prompt in the Microsoft Authenticator app. Enter the code or approve the prompt, then select Continue or Verify if the screen shows it.
- Windows will ask if you are sure you want to reset your PIN. Read the short message on the screen, then select Continue. After that, wait for the "Set up a PIN" box to appear. If the box does not appear right away, wait a little longer before you select anything else.
- Type your new PIN in the first box, then type the same PIN again in the second box to confirm it. Check the two entries match, then select OK. From now on, this is the PIN Windows will ask for on this PC.
Windows should now sign you in with the new PIN and load your desktop. If it returns you to the sign-in screen instead, type the new PIN once and press Enter. Your files and settings will be as you left them.
If the reset asks for a code or password you do not have
If you have also forgotten the Microsoft account password, select the forgotten password option on the password prompt during the PIN reset. Reset that password first, using the phone or second device you have ready. When it is set, return to the sign-in screen and start the PIN reset again.
If a verification code does not arrive, wait a few minutes before you try again. Then make one clean attempt: request a single code and wait for it, instead of asking for several in a row. If it still does not come, follow the linked page on codes that do not arrive for fixes by delivery method.
If the message says the account is blocked or locked, or that there have been too many requests, stop retrying. Follow the linked recovery pages for blocked and locked accounts instead. Return to the PIN reset only after the block is cleared.
Creating a new Microsoft account will not help. This PC is tied to the original account shown on the sign-in screen, so the PIN reset has to go through that account. A new account will not replace it.
If this PC uses a local account instead
A local account has no email address tied to it, so Windows has nothing to verify against online. There is no "I forgot my PIN" reset route here. If you still know your local account password, you can sign in with that password instead.
At the sign-in screen, select Sign-in options, then select the key icon and enter your local account password. Once you are in, open Settings, then Accounts, then Sign-in options. Select Windows Hello PIN, select Remove, and confirm. Then select Add and set a new PIN.
If you have also forgotten the local account password, enter a wrong password once and select the Reset password link if it appears. Windows may then show the security questions you set up when the account was created, and answering them lets you set a new password. A password reset disk made earlier on a USB drive works too.
If you have neither the password, the answers, nor a reset disk, there is no safe way around the sign-in screen. Do not download tools that promise to bypass it. See our guide to the last resort options for what can be done next.
Once you are back in, set a PIN you will not lose again
Choose a PIN you can recall without help, but that someone else would not guess from your life. Skip birthdays and house numbers, and do not reuse a PIN from a bank or credit card. If that PIN is ever exposed, this PC should not be at risk too.
Try the new PIN now, while it is still fresh. Press the Windows key and L together to lock the PC, then sign back in with the new PIN. One or two tries today make the next normal sign-in easier to remember.
Check the contact details on your Microsoft account while you are signed in. Make sure the recovery phone number and email address are ones you still use, and update any that have changed. A future verification code needs to reach a phone or inbox you can open.
Write the PIN down and keep the note in a safe place at home, such as a closed drawer with other household papers. Do not stick it on the PC, the screen, or under the keyboard. Kept apart from the PC, the note helps you without helping a visitor.
Conclusion
A forgotten PIN feels like being locked out of everything, but it is a smaller problem than it looks. The PIN was only ever for this PC. Your account, your files, and your password stayed as they were, which is why fixing the PIN alone was enough to get you back in.
If you are still stuck at the sign-in screen, the block is likely the account password or a verification code, not the PIN itself. Stop guessing at the PIN box and work on that account problem instead. Once you can prove the account is yours, setting a new PIN takes minutes.