Windows 10 passwords protect your system from unauthorized access. Being a highly versatile and feature-rich operating system has its own disadvantages. Providing all those features leniently sacrifices some security aspects. So, in order to help Windows 10 to secure your computer, you should have a password in place, So no one can get access to your PC without you giving them permission to. At least, not that easily. Of course, a few tweaks can break the password protection. However, at least you can prevent your cousin from accessing your personal data.
As important as setting a password, changing it is also crucial. If you are still sticking to the old password that you set 2 years back which is very obvious to guess. Or at least someone else could have seen you typing it in, it is the time to change it. This is how you can set a new password on your Windows 10 PC.
Steps to Change Windows 10 Password
There could be a couple of scenarios that you might be in. You either know the password, or you don’t. Follow the steps under the appropriate method in order to change or reset your Windows 10 password.
If you know the current password
- Click on the Start button.
- Click the Settings icon (gear icon).
- Go to Accounts.
- Then to Sign-in options.
- Under the Password option, click on the Change button.
It will ask you for the current password as well as the new one that you want to set. Provide the old password and then enter a strong, new one that no one can easily guess.
If you forgot the Windows 10 password
If you forgot the Windows 10 password, and you are the legit owner of the PC, there are a lot of ways you can follow to recover it. We wrote an entire article on recovering Windows 10 password. Reading it will give you the complete idea about the methods that you have to follow to reset your Windows 10 password.
If you have a security question or PIN set for the password recovery, it is even easier to change the password. All you have to do is is clicking on the “Reset Password” link on the login screen after incorrectly typing the password a couple of times. It will take you to a section where you can simply enter the answer for the security questions or the recovery PIN.
In case you are not able to recover the password even after trying all of these methods, then you can move to some advanced actions such as recovering your OS, or directly contacting Microsoft support.