Sometimes, you may forget your Dell laptop password and be locked out of the computer. Stay calm, here we will show you how to unlock a Dell laptop without the password with four proven ways.
"When I turn on my Dell laptop, I have to put in my password in order to get to the main screen. I don't have another user, it's just me, and I forgot my password and I don't know how to get in to change it or how I can recover it. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated."
Setting a password for Dell laptop is arguably one of the most essential things to protect online privacy and safety. However, while passwords secure our data on the laptop, they can also bring us some tricky problems. It's especially troublesome when you forgot Dell laptop password.
Once it happens to you, it means you will lose all access to your computer, and you are unable to open your programs, folders, or any other files on the Dell laptop. So, you must be wondering how to unlock a Dell laptop without the password. No worries, we're going to discuss the solutions in the content below.
Here we list four widely applicable and guaranteed methods. Some of them are quite simple, while others are rather complicated. You can look through them first and choose the most suitable one for you.
Note: All the methods are available on any Dell laptop including but not limited to Inspiron, Latitude, G Series Gaming, Alienware, etc.
When we install Windows 7/8/10/11, an administrator account is created automatically, which is invisible to us. If you don't enable this account and set a password for it, you can use this hidden administrator account to log in to your Dell laptop when you forgot the password.
Now, let's see how to unlock a Dell laptop Windows 7/8/10/11 with the hidden administrator account:
Step 1. Restart your Dell laptop and press the F8 key when Windows starts. Then, you will a new login screen.
Step 2. Press the Ctrl + Alt + Delete keys simultaneously.
Step 3. Choose "Switch User", enter "Administrator" as username, and leave the password box blank. Hit "Enter" and you can log in to your laptop successfully.
If the previous owner set a BIOS password, you'll need it to access the laptop. Here's how to unlock with the BIOS password:
Step 1. Turn on or restart the Dell laptop. As it boots, press F2 repeatedly to enter the BIOS setup utility.
Step 2. On the BIOS login screen, enter the BIOS password when prompted.
Step 3. Once unlocked, go to Security > Password and reset both the BIOS and system passwords to gain full access.
If you don't know the BIOS password, Dell has a master password reset process. You'll need proof of ownership and to contact Dell technical support to verify your identity and receive the BIOS master password.
If you are stuck on the login screen, you can reset the forgotten password to regain access to your Dell laptop. Command Prompt is a Windows built-in tool that can execute many operations including deleting partitions, checking disk errors, and resetting password.
Since you are unable to log in to your system, how can you open Command Prompt? Below is how to unlock a Dell laptop via CMD from the Windows recovery environment:
Step 1. On the login screen, press "Shift" and click the "Restart" option simultaneously, then click "Troubleshoot".
Step 2. In the "Advanced options" window, click "Command Prompt" to open it.
Step 3. In the CMD, type "move E:\windows\system32\utilman.exe E:\" and press "Enter" to move the utilman.exe file.
Step 4. Then, input "copy E:\windows\system32\cmd.exe E:\windows\system32\utilman.exe" and press "Enter" to copy the cmd.exe file to the target path.
Step 5. Then type "wpeutil reboot" and press "Enter".
Step 6. Click the human icon on the right bottom, then type the net user username password (eg. net user "Leah George" 2022) and press "Enter".
Step 7. After that, you can use the new password to unlock your Dell laptop.
Aside from CMD, Windows offers a password reset disk to recover the lost password. But it is only suitable for those who have made a password reset USB before forgetting the laptop password. If you have such a disk around you, you can easily unlock your Dell laptop by resetting the password.
Step 1. On the sign-in interface, click "Reset password".
Step 2. The Password Reset Wizard will pop out, click "Next" to continue.
Step 3. Insert the prepared password reset disk, then choose the password reset disk from the list and click "Next".
Step 4. In the new interface, after changing the password and setting a new password hint, click "Next".
Step 5. After the password reset is finished, click "Finish" to exit the window. That’s how to unlock a Dell laptop with a password reset USB.
What if none of the above methods works for you? Then, the fourth method should be your last string. That is to reset the laptop password via a third-party tool like AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional.
It can help you create a Windows password reset USB even after you have forgotten the password. So it is applicable in many cases. And it has been proven to be 100% safe and feasible on all editions of Windows 11/10/8/7/XP/Vista.
Besides, the process won't require you to format the partition or reinstall the operating system, so you don't have to worry about data loss. Here we provide a demo version for you to have a free trial, then you can follow the guide on how to unlock a Dell laptop without the password.
Stage 1. Create a bootable USB
Step 1. Connect a USB with any Windows PC that can work normally, then download and open this unlock tool, and select "Tools"> "Reset Windows Password" on the main interface.
Step 2. You'll be asked to create a bootable USB, click "Next" to agree.
Step 3. In a new window, choose the target USB boot device and click "Proceed".
Step 4. Read the notes about creating a bootable USB, then click "Yes".
Step 5. Wait for some minutes, then click "Finish" when the bootable USB is created.
Stage 2. Reset the password to unlock a Dell laptop
Step 1. Connect the bootable USB to the locked laptop, change the boot drive to boot the PC from the USB, choose the Windows OS, and click "Next".
Step 2. All accounts on the PC will be shown, click the target account and tick "Reset Account Password", then click "Next".
Step 3. In the new popped window, reset the password and click "Yes" after confirming it.
How to unlock a Dell laptop Windows 7/8/10/11? Four reliable and feasible methods have been explained step by step in this article. By trying the solutions mentioned above, you can easily figure out how to unlock a Dell laptop without the password.
Among all the suggested methods, it's recommended to use AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional as it ensures no data loss and reset the password in simple and easy steps. If you are facing other computer issues, you can also ask this tool for help such as cloned SSD won't boot, SSD not showing up, no EFI partition was found, and so on.