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Learn where to go to change your Windows 11 password and modify your sign-in options.
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Quick reference
Change Password and Sign-In Options
Understand how to change your Windows 11 password and set up alternative sign-in options.
When to use
We should be changing our Windows 11 password on a regular basis to protect our computer. If we don't like using a password, we can choose another way to sign in.
Instructions
By this stage, we should be familiar with singing into Windows 11. When we boot up our PC, we will be asked to enter in our password to access this system. However, a password is not the only way to sign in. We could set up a PIN and use that instead of a password. If we have a fairly new PC or laptop, we may also have the ability to sign in using our fingerprint or face scan.
If we are using a password, it is recommended that we change this at regular intervals.
Change Password
- Go to Settings.
- Select Accounts from the menu.
- Click Your info.
- From Related Settings, click Accounts.
This will open up a webpage that shows our account details. We can change our password from here.
- Click Change password.
- Confirm your current password.
- Click Sign In.
We will then be asked to select a verification method from the list. We can choose to have a verification code sent via text, email, or we can use the Microsoft Authenticator mobile app to confirm our identity.
- Choose Text.
- Enter the last 4 digits of your phone number.
- Click Send code.
A code will be sent to our phone.
- Type the code into the code field.
- Click Verify.
- Enter in the current password.
- Enter a new password.
- Confirm the new password.
- Click Save.
Sign-in Options
Using a password is not the only way to sign into Windows 11. If our PC or laptop allows, we can use facial recognition, fingerprint recognition, a PIN, a security key, or a picture password.
To use facial recognition, we need to have a webcam. To use fingerprint recognition we need to have a laptop or PC that has a fingerpad scanner. Many newer laptop models have both of these. If your computer doesn't, you are limited to using one of the other sign-in options.
Sign in with your camera (facial recognition)
We can use our camera to take a scan of our face. Once complete, the next time we sign in, we can simply look at the webcam to access our system.
- Go to Settings.
- Click Accounts.
- Click Sign-in options.
- Click Facial recognition (Windows Hello).
- Click Set up.
- Click Get Started.
- Look into your webcam and make sure your face is centered.
- Follow the prompts to take a facial scan.
Sign in with your Finger (Fingerprint Recognition)
If we have a compatible device, we can use the fingerpad on our laptop to sign in to Windows 11.
- Go to Settings.
- Click Accounts.
- Click Sign-in options.
- Click Fingerprint recognition (Windows Hello).
- Click Add a finger.
- Click Get Started.
Touch your finger repeatedly on the sensor. List and rest your finger until Windows has a full scan of your fingerprint. Once complete, the next time we log into Windows, we simply place our finger on the fingerpad.
Sign in with a PIN
We can use a PIN code to sign in instead of a password. Some people find this easier to remember.
- Go to Settings.
- Click Accounts.
- Click Sign-in options.
- Click PIN (Windows Hello).
- Follow the prompts.
Security Key
We can sign into Windows 11 using a physical security key. This is usually a specialist key stored on a USB device.
- Go to Settings.
- Click Accounts.
- Click Sign-in options.
- Click Security Key.
- Click Manage.
- Insert the security key into the USB port.
- Follow the prompts.
Picture Password (touch screen users)
We can use a picture password to protect touch screen devices.
- Go to Settings.
- Click Accounts.
- Click Sign-in options.
- Click Picture Password.
- Click Add.
- Click Choose Picture.
- Browse to a folder and select a picture.
- Click Use this picture.
We can now use our fingers and draw three gestures on the picture. We should use a combination of circles, lines, and taps.
- Draw three gestures on the screen.
- Confirm the three gestures.
- Click Done.
Hints & tips
- Passwords must be a minimum of 8 characters in length and are case-sensitive.
- If we are using a local account to sign into Windows 11 we can go to Settings > Accounts > Sign In Options to change the password.
- 00:03 By now we should be fairly familiar with signing in to Windows 11.
- 00:09 When we boot up our PC,
- 00:10 we're going to be asked to enter in our password in order to access our system.
- 00:15 However, a password is not the only way that we can sign in.
- 00:20 We could set up a PIN code instead in order to sign in to Windows 11.
- 00:25 And if we have a newer laptop or PC, we might even have a fingerprint scanner.
- 00:32 I know that on my old laptop, I definitely had one of these, so
- 00:36 we can use our fingerprint in order to log into Windows 11.
- 00:40 We can take a face scan or Windows Hello as it's called, where we can simply
- 00:44 look into our webcam and that will allow us access to our system.
- 00:49 And we might even have some kind of security keys stored off on a USB
- 00:52 device that we can use to log in.
- 00:55 So there are a few different options, you're not just stuck with trying to
- 00:58 remember a very long and complicated password.
- 01:01 I know that I prefer to use the PIN option, so let me show you where all of
- 01:05 these sign in options live and how you can set them up so that it works best for you.
- 01:11 I'm also going to show you in this lesson how you can very quickly change your
- 01:14 password if you need to.
- 01:16 And it is recommended that you do try and change your password on a reasonably
- 01:21 regular basis just to add a bit of security to your PC.
- 01:25 So let's take a look at that, first of all, how we can change our password.
- 01:29 Now this probably isn't going to surprise you, but
- 01:31 you're going to find this option in settings.
- 01:34 So let's press the Windows key.
- 01:36 And I actually unpin settings a little bit earlier.
- 01:38 So I'm going to pin this again because we use it all the time.
- 01:42 So, let's open up settings.
- 01:45 Now, we're going to find options related to our password underneath the Accounts
- 01:49 section.
- 01:50 To change our password, we need to go to Your info, and
- 01:53 then all the way at the bottom underneath Related settings, let's click on Accounts.
- 01:59 Now this is going to open up an external web browser window, which kind of feels
- 02:03 a little bit strange but it actually takes you to your Microsoft account homepage.
- 02:08 And this is where we can come to change our password.
- 02:11 So if you take a look in the top right hand corner,
- 02:14 it says Change password just here.
- 02:16 So when I click on this link,
- 02:18 it's going to ask me to sign into my account and I need to verify my identity.
- 02:24 So I prefer to receive a text when I'm doing anything like this, so
- 02:27 I'm going to click Text.
- 02:29 And now I need to verify my phone number,
- 02:31 and I'm going to send a verification code to my phone.
- 02:34 I can see that that's just come through,
- 02:38 so all I need to do is type it in and click on Verify.
- 02:42 And this is going to take me to the change password window.
- 02:45 So all I need to do is to enter in my current password, select a new password,
- 02:50 and then re-enter that password and save.
- 02:53 Now I'm not going to do that, I don't want to change my password because I have
- 02:57 recently changed it, so I'm going to click on Cancel.
- 02:59 But the process there is pretty straightforward.
- 03:03 So now that we've seen how to change our password,
- 03:05 it's time to look at all the different sign in options that we have.
- 03:08 Because, as I mentioned, signing in using a password isn't the only option.
- 03:13 Now to take a look at these, we are going to stay within our settings.
- 03:17 So using the breadcrumb trail,
- 03:19 I'm going to click on Accounts to go back a screen.
- 03:22 Because the screen that we're looking for here is this one just here,
- 03:26 Sign-in options, let's click to open it up.
- 03:29 Now right at the top here, we have all of the different ways that we can sign in.
- 03:34 And some of these are not going to be valid for everybody,
- 03:36 it really depends on the type of device that you're using.
- 03:40 For example, you might not have a laptop that has a fingerprint scanner,
- 03:44 you might not have a laptop that has a built in webcam.
- 03:48 So pick the sign in option that's most appropriate for your setup.
- 03:52 Now if we just run through so you know what each of these are,
- 03:55 the first one here is Facial recognition.
- 03:58 So it basically means you can sign into your PC using your camera.
- 04:02 So if we click this,
- 04:04 we can simply click on Set up to run through the setup process.
- 04:08 Now I'm using an external monitor.
- 04:10 I don't have a camera on this monitor.
- 04:13 But when we run through the setup process, it's basically just going to ask us to
- 04:18 look into our camera while it does a scan of our face.
- 04:21 So when we're at the lock screen,
- 04:23 remember we can press Windows key L when we're signing into our PC.
- 04:27 Instead of typing a password in here, we can simply look at our camera and
- 04:32 it's going to sign us straight into Windows 11.
- 04:35 And some of you might be used to using this facial recognition technology on
- 04:39 your phone.
- 04:40 It's something I have on my iPhone.
- 04:42 I just look at the screen and it unlocks my phone, similar thing in Windows 11.
- 04:48 The next option is a Fingerprint recognition.
- 04:51 And once again, this requires you to have a fingerprint scanner on your laptop.
- 04:56 And I did have one on my old laptop and I think many of the newer laptop models do
- 05:00 come with a fingerprint scanner these days.
- 05:03 It's just a little square pad in the corner of your PC.
- 05:06 You place your fingerprint on it and you can do various different things.
- 05:10 So once again, we have a Set up button just here.
- 05:12 And all this requires you to do in the setup process, if we click on Set up,
- 05:17 and then click on Get started, it's basically
- 05:20 just going to ask us to touch the fingerprint sensor numerous times.
- 05:24 So you basically repeatedly lift and press your fingerprint onto the scanner so
- 05:30 it can build an image of your full fingerprint.
- 05:33 Then the next time that we get to the lock screen,
- 05:36 all we need to do is place our finger on the scanner and it will sign us in.
- 05:41 So that might be an option that you also want to use.
- 05:44 The next option down is actually the one that I use, and
- 05:47 that is to set up a pin as opposed to a password.
- 05:50 A lot of us have numbers that we remember more easily than long complicated
- 05:54 passwords.
- 05:55 So if we click on Set up just here, we can walk through the wizard and
- 05:59 create our own PIN.
- 06:01 Now, I already have a PIN set up, so it's basically asking me to change my pin.
- 06:06 But if you don't, you're going to be required to enter a six digit PIN code.
- 06:11 And as I said,
- 06:12 some people find this easier to remember than an actual password.
- 06:16 The next option is a security key.
- 06:18 So this is if you have maybe some kind of security key on an external
- 06:23 device like a USB stick.
- 06:25 You could use that as well to sign in your PC.
- 06:28 Simply pop it into the USB slot on your PC or laptop and sign in that way.
- 06:33 The next option is Password.
- 06:34 I think we're all fairly familiar with how that works.
- 06:37 And the final one is an interesting one, Picture password.
- 06:40 So this allows us to sign in using our favorite picture.
- 06:44 And this works well if you have a touchscreen device.
- 06:48 But let's take a quick look at it because this is probably the most
- 06:51 unusual one out of all of them.
- 06:53 I'm going to say I want to add a picture.
- 06:55 The first thing I need to do is verify my account by adding my password.
- 07:00 And you can see here it says a picture password is a new way to
- 07:03 help you protect your touchscreen PC.
- 07:06 Now this isn't a touchscreen PC that I'm using, but let's just walk through
- 07:10 the process as far as we can so you can see kind of how this works.
- 07:14 So I'm going to select a picture, and I'm just going to use this picture just here.
- 07:19 I'm going to say yes, I want to use this picture.
- 07:22 And now it says draw three gestures on your picture.
- 07:26 You can use a combination of circles, straight lines, and taps.
- 07:29 As I said, this works best if you're using your finger or a stylus.
- 07:32 I'm just using my mouse, it's not going to be very neat, but
- 07:35 I'm going to draw a circle around this balloon.
- 07:38 I'm going to draw a line that links these two balloons.
- 07:42 And then I'm going to double tap on this balloon over here.
- 07:45 So now it's telling me I need to confirm my gestures.
- 07:48 So what you can then do to sign in is basically at the lock screen,
- 07:51 you're going to see your picture and you just need to confirm your gesture.
- 07:55 So draw a circle around the balloon, draw a line and then double tap.
- 07:59 So it's a way of adding security to a touchscreen device.
- 08:03 So those are all of the different sign in options that you have.
- 08:07 So choose the one that's most appropriate for the type of device that you have.
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