[Fixed] Windows 10 Administrator Password Lost

Scenario: Forgot admin password Windows 10 admin password, how can I recover it?

“Hate to say that, but I forgot my Windows 10 admin password. I’ve tried many times, still can’t remember the correct password. Any ideas to reset a new password without logging into the system?”

Passwords are crucial to most of our digital lives today, and they are frequently the major, if not the only, method of authenticating a person's credentials. Regrettably, most of us forget our passwords far more frequently than we would want.

According to Hypr research, most users had to reset the passwords of at least one personal account in the last 90 days, and 57 percent had to reset the password of their work account over the same time period. This study demonstrates that forgetting and resetting passwords is pretty prevalent, despite our desire to deny it. IT admins manage much of the authentication and resets in an office setting.

So, don’t feel embarrassed if you forget admin password on Windows 10. In this post, we’ll show you how to reset the admin password on Windows 10 for Microsoft account users and local PC account users.

Fix Windows 10 administrator password lost

In this part, we’ll separately show you how to reset admin password on Windows 10 for Microsoft and your local account. You can skip to the solution according to your situation.

Case 1. Reset admin password on Windows 10 for Microsoft account

If you’re using a Microsoft account for your Windows 10 PC, then, it’s easy to reset a new password.

Step 1. Select “Forgot password?”, or you can go directly to Reset password and enter the user name again for the account you’re trying to reset, then select “Next”.

Step 2. When you got and may pick a verification option, select the option to send the verification code to, and select "Next".

Note: You won't be able to reset your password this way if you don't see a place to input a code or if you no longer have access to any of the verification alternatives above.

Step 3. Retype the first part of the email address or the last four digits of the phone number hinted at in the previous window. Select Get code.

Step 4. Enter the code you received and select “Next”.

Then, you’ll be able to sign into Windows with your new password. You can also use another device to change your password on the Microsoft website to use Microsoft Account Recovery online.

Case 2. Windows 10 recover lost admin password via installation media

If you’re using a local account, the operation will be more complex. Because your local account only logs you into this device and does not connect you to others, you can only update settings on the target device.

Note: You need the Windows installation DVD or a bootable USB flash drive to log into the system.

Step 1. Insert the Microsoft Windows DVD or a bootable USB flash drive. Once your computer boots up, press the Shift and F10 keys together. This will open Command Prompt.

Step 2. In Command Prompt, make a copy of utilman.exe so that you can restore it later. Type this command:

move c:\Windows\system32\utilman.exe c:\Windows\system32\utilman.exe.backup

Step 3. Replace utilman.exe with cmd.exe. Type this command:

copy c:\Windows\system32\cmd.exe c:\Windows\system32\utilman.exe

Step 4. Remove the DVD or the flash drive. Restart your computer.

Step 5. When Windows 10 reboots, look for the Utility Manager icon located at the far left-hand lower side of the window. Click that.

Step 6. Since you have replaced the utility manager tool, a new command prompt will open up.

Step 7. Add a new user and password. The command is:

net user username /add

Make this user the admin with this command: net localgroup administrators username /add

Step 8. Click on the screen in the background, and this will bring up the sign-in page. Click your new account and log in without a password.

Once you log in, you can go to Control Panel to reset your password.

Step 1. Open the Control Panel and navigate to User Accounts.

Step 2. Choose the admin account.

Step 3. On the next screen, look for an option called “Change the password.” Enter your current password and the new one. You have to confirm your new password by typing it again. Also, finish the password hint if you want the computer to give a clue about your password.

Step 4. Click the “Change Password” button to use the new password.

Then you can reboot your PC normally, and use your new password to enter the Administrator account on Windows 10.

An easier way to fix Windows 10 administrator password lost

You see, if you use installation media, you’ll need to deal with many complex commands, and if you type wrong orders, the task will fail or even damage some files. To help you easily reset your PC password, we suggest you try third-party tools, such as AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional.

This program can create a PC password reset USB for the target PC. Unlike Windows Password Reset Disk, the USB you created with this tool can be used on any PC with the same system, so you don’t need to create it before you’ve forgotten your password.

Once you plug the USB into the target computer, the software will boot into the interface of the tool to guide you to reset or remove the password.

Step 1. Download AOMEI Partition Assistant on a working PC and prepare an empty USB drive.

Step 2. On the main interface, click Tools and Reset Windows Password.

Step 3. Click Next to create a bootable USB.

Step 4. Choose the target USB drive and click Proceed.

Step 5. Read the information pop out and click Yes.

Insert the password reset USB created just now and change the boot order to make the PC boot from the USB.

Step 1. After loading, you will see AOMEI Partition Assistant. Click Reset Password and select the OS and click Next.

Step  2. Select the account to which you want to reset the password, and then select the options you want to perform: Remove Account Password or Reset Account Password. Then, click Next.

Step 3. If you want to reset the password, type the new password in the new window and click Yes to confirm.

Now, restart your computer and log in to Windows 10 with the new password.

To sum up

Windows 10 administrator password lost is not difficult to fix. You can follow our guide to reset your password based on your case. If you’re using a local account, AOMEI Partition Assistant is the simplest solution for you. Besides resetting passwords, this tool can also clone disks, convert disks to MBR/GPT without OS, and fix disk via repair USB even when your PC can’t boot normally. And it has the Server Edition for Windows Server 2025/2022/2019/2016/2012(R2)/2008(R2)/2003 users.