How To Reset Local Account Password Windows 11 Without Software

• A password to a local user account can be reset on Windows 10 and Windows 11 without using any additional software or tools.
• To reset the password of a Microsoft account, you must log into your account on another device and reset the account’s password directly.

Reset Windows account password without logging in

To reset the password to a local user account on a Windows computer, the following method will be changing the functionality of the “Accessibility” button on the lock screen, and prompting it to open the Command Prompt instead. From the Command Prompt, we will then be able to change the password to the user account without logging in.

This will be achieved by booting into the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) and changing the name of the “cmd.exe” file so that when the “Accessibility” button is clicked, Windows will be tricked into opening the Command Prompt instead.

 

Here are the steps to reset the password to a local user account on Windows:

1. On the lock screen, hold down the Left Shift key, click on the power icon, and then click Restart.

   Do not let go of the Shift key.

2. Once the WinRE screen appears, let go of the Shift key.
3. Click Troubleshoot.
   

   

4. Go to “Advanced options.”

   

5. Open the “Command Prompt.”
   

   

   Alternative to these steps, you can create a bootable USB media, enter the boot menu, and then press the Shift + F10 combination keys to launch the Command Prompt.

6. Next, using Command Prompt, you must locate the Windows Directory which is not usually the regular C drive when in WinRE. To do that, use the hit-and-trial method with different drive letters until you are in the Windows drive.

   To change the drive, enter the drive letter followed by a colon (:). Then, use the Dir command to see the contents of the drive, as in this example:

   C:
   Dir

   

   As from the image above, the “Windows” and other folders can be found inside the Windows directory.

7. When inside the correct directory, run the following command to change the working directory to the “System32” folder inside the “Windows” directory:

   cd /d Windows\System32

   

8. Once here, run the following command to rename the file for the “Accessibility” button (utilman.exe) on the lock screen into something else:

   Note: The temporary name of the file should be memorable to revert the changes later on.

   ren utilman.exe utilman1.exe

   

9. Now, run the following command to rename “cmd.exe” as “utilman.exe”:

   ren cmd.exe utilman.exe

   

10. Now close the Command Prompt and click Continue.

    Windows will now restart and boot normally again.

     

11. On the lock screen, click the “Accessibility” button and it should open the Command Prompt.
    

    

12. Now run the following command to launch the “User Accounts” window from the lock screen:

    Control userpasswords2

    

13. Select the user account and click “Reset password.”
    

    

14. Now enter and confirm a new password and then click OK.

    You may leave it blank to remove the password.

    

15. Now close the “User Accounts” and the “Command Prompt” windows, and continue to log into the account using your new password.

    You should now be able to log into your account successfully.

16. Now, you must revert the changes made to the “cmd.exe” and the “utilman.exe” files. For that purpose, boot into the Windows Recovery Environment again from Settings > System > Recovery and click “Restart now” in front of Advanced Startup.

    Note: You cannot rename the files from the Command Prompt or File Explorer while booted inside the Windows OS as it requires permission from the TrustedInstaller.

    

17. Confirm the action by clicking “Restart now” again.
18. In WinRE, go to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt.

19. Change the directory to the “System32” folder with the correct Windows drive letter with this command:

    cd /d C:\Windows\System32

20. Run the following commands one after the other to revert the changes:

    Note: Use the custom name for the original utilman.exe file that you set.

    ren utilman.exe cmd.exe
    ren utilman1.exe utilman.exe

    

21. Close the Command Prompt and click Continue to boot into Windows normally again.

After performing the steps above, if you click the “Accessibility” button on the lock screen, you will notice that it has reverted to its original function again and that you have successfully reset the password of a local user account on a Windows computer.

You may then continue to reconfigure the account’s password as you please from Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options.