Computer password is used for privacy protection. Read this post, you will get a full understanding of it including how to change computer admin password and what to do if you have forgotten it.
When you are setting up a new Windows computer, you will be asked to set a password for your account. Although Windows allows you to miss or skip the step, it’s always recommended to add a password to your account.
Once you set such a password, every time when you boot up your PC, you have to input it to get access to your system. That's what we called a computer password, or more specifically, a computer login password. It decides whether you can enter your system or not. With the password only you know, you can protect the data on your computer very well.
In addition, depending on the type of account, we have divided it into Microsoft password and local password. You can set this account as your login account so that you can use the relevant password to unlock your PC. To know more details, you can refer to the chart below:
|
|
Classification |
Definition |
Password |
|
Microsoft account |
/ |
It is used to log in to services such as Outlook, OneDrive, Windows Phone, or Xbox Live. |
Set manually |
|
Local account |
Administrator account |
The administrator account has control over the entire system including changing system settings, installing and deleting programs, and accessing all files on the computer. Besides, it also has permission to control other users. |
Set manually |
|
Standard user account |
Standard user accounts are accounts subject to certain restrictions. It can access programs already installed on the computer and can set its own account image, password, etc. |
Set manually |
|
|
Guest account |
The guest account only has the minimum permission, no password, and cannot make any modifications to the system. It can only view information on the computer. |
Set manually |
As the table illustrated, different accounts have privileges to your PC of different degrees, setting a password for them means you are able to get such privileges. Among all the types of passwords, knowing the computer admin password represents you having full control over the computer. So, it's vitally important to set a strong password for it and keep it firmly on your mind.
Stop using your names, birth dates, or phone numbers as your password like Tom123 or 19750428. These easily guessed passwords are called weak passwords. A weak password will not protect your computer but leave your account vulnerable to being hacked.
Therefore, you should turn to a strong and memorable computer password to improve the protection of your PC. A strong password would be one that is difficult to guess or break, and it is better to be a combination of the following points:
▶ Ten or more uppercase and lowercase characters. ▶ Several irregular numbers. ▶ Some special symbols like dollar signs, exclamation marks, or percent symbols.
Here is an example of a strong password containing the above elements: Ts7%hkU!94@3m. But please note that you should remember it and never tell others you don't trust.
We have mentioned that password for any account is set by yourself. Once set, Windows will make it invisible and inaccessible out of safety. So, you can not find either a Microsoft account password or a local account password on your computer, especially your computer admin password.
You may notice some tools online that claim to be able to retrieve your password, but it's risky to give these tools access to your private computer. Under no circumstances should you expose your device to unauthorized parties.
Thus, to find your computer password, you should comply with Windows rules: change or reset the password, and the new one is what you want to know.
A password for PC is not set static, you could change it after logging in to the system at any time. By comparison, modifying a Microsoft password only needs to open the Microsoft password reset page and then change it, which is quite easier than changing a local password. Therefore, in this part, we'll mainly discuss how to change computer password for a local account.
PS.: If you don't create a password for your account while setting up a new computer, you can also use the following approaches to set one now.
Step 1. Type "Control Panel" in the search bar, choose "Large icons" under "View by", and hit "User Accounts".
Step 2. Tap on the "Manage another account" link.
Step 3. And hit the user account whose password you want to change.
Step 4. Then click on the "Change the password" option.
Step 5. Type in the desired new password and then hit "Change password".
Step 1. Press the "Windows + I" keys simultaneously to open Windows Settings and click "Accounts".
Step 2. Choose the "Sign-in option" from the left panel and click the "Change" button under the "Password" section.
Step 3. Key in the existing password and click the "Next' button.
Step 4. Now, type in the new password and re-enter it. Decide a password hint and then press "Next".
Step 1. First of all, press the "Windows + R" keys at the same time to launch the Run box. Input "netplwiz" in the box and then press "Enter" or hit "OK".
Step 2. In the "User Account" window, highlight a user account you desire to change the password for and tap the "Reset Password" button.
Step 3. Type your new password for your account followed by pressing "OK".
Step 1. Search "Command Prompt" on the search bar and click Command Prompt from the result.
Step 2. Type the command "net user" to list all the user accounts on your computer. Take note of the account name you want to change the password for.
Step 3. Then key in the command "net user username new_password". Use your username and new password in place of these two.
Step 1. Press "Windows+ R", type "lusrmgr.msc" in the box, and click "OK".
Step 2. Click "Users" in the left pane, then right-click the target account and click "Set Password".
Step 3. Hit the "Proceed" button for confirming.
Step 4. Now, input your new password and confirm it again, and then hit "OK".
Although it has been said that passwords are very important, there are still many Windows users who report they forget them frequently. Forgetting passwords is never any fun, but luckily there are ways to solve it.
If you can get into the system with other accounts, the methods mentioned in the last part are also can be used for password reset. However, what to do if you are locked out of your computer? No worries! This part will offer you three methods to get you out of this problem.
When you forgot computer password Windows 10 and cannot access your system, it is the simplest way to reset the forgotten password with a Windows unlock tool like AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional.
This software aims to create a bootable password reset USB so that you can change a new password without logging in. No matter what you have forgotten is a computer admin password or other local passwords, the created disk allows you to complete the password reset with a few clicks.
Step 1. Prepare an empty USB and connect it to another Windows computer that works normally. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. And Click "Reset Password" in the main interface.
Step 2. In the pop-up window, click "Next" to begin to create a WinPE bootable media.
Step 3. Here we tick "USB Boot Device" and choose your prepared USB and click "Proceed" to move on.
Step 4. Note that the USB flash drive will be formatted during the process. Click "OK" to continue.
Step 5. When the bootable USB is created successfully, insert it into the target computer and change the boot order to boot your PC from the USB.
Step 6. When the PC starts, you will see the interface of AOMEI Partition Assistant appears automatically. Click "Reset Password", select the Windows system you would like to operate (Here we take Windows 7 as an example), and click "Next".
Step 7. Then, select the account you would like to operate and select the feature you want to use: "Remove Account Password" or "Reset Account Password". Here we choose "Reset Account Password" and click "Next".
Step 8. Type the new password and confirm it, then click "Yes". After that, you can log in to the Windows system with the new password.
In addition to resetting password, you can also remove your password by reinstalling the Windows if you forgot it. This is a process of erasing everything on your computer including password removal. But you should know that it takes a long time to reinstall the OS and you will lose your data after the reinstallation.
Tip: If you worry about data loss, you can clone the hard drive via bootable USB as a backup.
Step 1. Create a Windows installation disk, connect it to your laptop, and boot from it.
Step 2. Set some parameters like language according to the guidance. When you see "Install Now" in the Windows Setup screen, click on it.
Step 3. Then, enter your product key. If not, please click "I don't have a product key" to skip it.
Step 4. Select the operating system you want to install and hit "Next".
Step 5. In the new window, select "Custom: Install Windows only(advanced)".
Step 6. Then, select the destination partition for the Windows installation and hit "Next".
After that, you set a new password for your computer like the first time.
The third way is to factory reset your Windows 10 to its default settings so as to delete the forgotten password, which is admitted by Microsoft official. However, the same as OS reinstallation, it certainly causes data loss during the process. If you make up your mind, you can follow the steps below to reset your PC.
Step 1. Turn off your laptop and click on the "Restart" button to reboot your laptop (please hold the "Shift" button while clicking on the "Restart").
Step 2. In the next screen, select "Troubleshoot", and then choose "Reset this PC".
Step 3. You can either select "Keep my files" or "Remove everything".
Step 4. If you choose "Remove everything", you will be asked to choose either "Just remove my files" or "Fully clean the drive".
Step 5. After that, click "Reset", and wait patiently for it is finished.
Step 6. You will find you can get into your system without typing any password. Then, set a password as we displayed in this article.
After reading this article, you may have a command of computer password including what it is, how to choose a strong password, how to change computer admin password as well as what you should do if you forgot the password.
It is worth mentioning that AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is reliable in solving problems caused by problems such as accessing you computer without password, resetting password without disk, etc.