How to change your Windows 10 account password

There are situations where the user needs to change the Windows password in order to use the new password to log on to the system. The user may be afraid that the current password has become known to other persons or intruders who can gain access to the PC and user data.

In such a situation, the best way out is to change the password entered when logging into the Windows 10 operating system. The new password will become an obstacle for outsiders if they somehow previously obtained information about the password used to log in to the system.

In this article, we will look at methods suitable for changing the password, provided that the user knows his current password. For situations where the password is lost or forgotten, there are other ways to reset the password in Windows 10 , the use of which there is an article on my site.

Before we figure out how to change the password on a Windows computer, the user needs to know the difference in the types of accounts on the computer. In the Windows 10 operating system, a user can have one of two types of accounts:

• Microsoft account.
• Local account.

These accounts differ in their settings. The Microsoft account is synced online with a Microsoft server and linked to this device. All local account settings are non-Microsoft and reside on the computer.

When using a Microsoft account, users are prompted to create a Windows 10 sign -in PIN to make signing in to the operating system easier. PIN sign-in is not a password sign-in, the user can use a Windows Hello PIN, or remove it to use only a password to sign in.

In this guide, you will find instructions on how to change the password in Windows 10 for both types of accounts.

How to find out the type of account on a PC

Before you change your Windows 10 account password, it’s a good idea to know what type of account is being used on this computer. You can do this in the following way:

1. Enter the Start menu, launch the Settings app.
2. In the Windows Settings window, click on Accounts.
3. The “Your Details” tab will display your account settings.

If you use a Microsoft account on this PC, your profile settings will display your username, the email address associated with your Microsoft account, and a “Manage your Microsoft account” link.

If the computer is using a local account, the user data displays the username and “Local Account”.

How to change your password on a Windows 10 computer

First, let’s look at the method that works for both types of account: a Microsoft account or a local account in the Windows 10 operating system.

You can change your account password in the Settings app:

1. Right click on the start menu.
2. In the menu that opens, click on “Settings”.
3. Log in to “Accounts”, open the “Login Options” tab.
4. In the “Device Login Management” section, first click on “Password” and then on the “Change” button.

To change your Microsoft account password, you must have an Internet connection enabled on your computer, which is required to access the corporate servers responsible for using the accounts.

To change your Microsoft account password, you will need to do the following:

1. In the Microsoft Account window, enter the password for your current account.
2. In the next window, choose how you want to receive the security code. By default, they offer to send the code to the mailbox associated with this account.
3. Enter the security code sent to your e-mail.
4. In the “Change password” window, enter the current and new passwords, click on the “Next” button.
5. The next window will display “You have successfully changed your password”. Click on the “Finish” button.

How to change your Microsoft account password online

There is an alternative way to change your Windows 10 login password if you are using a Microsoft account. These steps can be performed online on the official Microsoft website.

When using this method, your desktop PC or laptop must be connected to the Internet so that changes made on the Microsoft server are synchronized with your device.

Do the following:

1. Follow the link to the page of the official Microsoft website: https://account.microsoft.com/?ref=settings .
2. Click the arrow next to More Actions.
3. In the drop-down menu, click on the “Change password” button.
4. On the page that opens, enter the data from the current password, add a new password, save the changes.

How to change user password in Windows 10 from Control Panel

To change the local account on the computer, you can use the system tool: Windows Control Panel.

You will need to do the following:

1. Log in to the Control Panel in a convenient way.
2. In the “All Control Panel Items” window, click on “User Accounts”.
3. In the “Make changes to a user account” window, click on the “Manage another account” link.
4. In the “Select the user whose account you want to change” window, click on the account icon.
5. In the “Change to account X” window, click on “Change password”.
6. In the window that opens, enter the current password, a new password, confirm a new password, come up with a password hint, and then click on the “Change password” button.

Now, when you enter the Windows operating system, you will need to enter a new password.

How to Change Windows Account Password Using Keyboard Keys

The easiest way to change an account’s password is by using keyboard shortcuts. After pressing the “hot keys”, the user will be able to start replacing the old password with a new password.

Go through the following steps:

1. Press “Ctrl” + “Alt” + “Del” on your keyboard at the same time.
2. Items for performing certain actions on the computer will appear on the screen. Click on “Change Password”.
3. The “Change password” window will open, in which you must enter in the appropriate fields: old password, new password and password confirmation.

How to change password on Windows 10 from Computer Management

With the help of the system component – “Computer Management”, the user has the ability to change the Windows user password used to log in to the system.

To do this, you will need to go through the following steps:

1. Right click on the start menu.
2. In the right-click menu, click on “Computer Management”.
3. In the “Computer Management” window, follow the path:

Computer Management (Local) → Utilities → Local Users and Groups → Users

4. Right-click on the account for which you want to change the password, select “Set password …” in the context menu.
5. In the “Set password for X” window, click the “Continue” button.
6. In the next window, enter a new password and confirmation. Click on the “OK” button.
7. In the window with a message about setting a password, click the “OK” button.
8. Close the Computer Management console.

How to change your Windows login password from the command line

This method, performed with administrator rights, will lose all data associated with this account: personal certificates, passwords for websites, etc. Use this method only if necessary.

Do the following:

1. Run command prompt as administrator.
2. In the command line interpreter window, run the following command:

net user User password

net user “Ivan Ivanov” password

Instead of “User” enter the name of your account, if the username consists of several words, enclose the name in double quotes (second command example). Replace “password” with your password.

Article Conclusions

If a user needs to change their password to sign in to the Windows 10 operating system, they can use several methods to solve the problem, depending on the type of account used on the computer: a Microsoft account or a local account. After making the changes, you must enter a new password to enter the system.