important: The Windows 8 password reset trick below only
works if you're using a local account. If you use an email address to
logon to Windows 8 then you're not using a local account, you're using
a Microsoft account, and you should follow my How To Reset Your Microsoft
Account Password tutorial instead.
Some other ways also exist to recover or reset a forgotten Windows 8
password, like using password recovery software. See my Help! I Forgot My
Windows 8 Password! for the full list of ideas.
Follow these easy steps to reset your Windows 8 password:
Difficulty: Average
Time Required: Considering that there are several steps
involved, it might take up to an hour to reset your Windows 8 password.
Applies To: You can reset your Windows 8 password this way
no matter what edition of Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 you're using.
Here's How:
- Access
Advanced Startup Options. In Windows 8, all of the important diagnostic
and repair options available to you can be found on the Advanced Startup
Options (ASO) menu.
Important: There are six
ways to access the ASO menu, all described in the link above, but some are
only available if you can already get into Windows 8, which you can't do
since you don't know the password. I recommend following Method 4, which requires that
you have a Windows 8 setup disc or flash drive, or Method 5, which requires that
you have, or create, a Windows 8 Recovery Drive. Method 6 works too, if your
computer supports it.
- Touch or
click on Troubleshoot,
then Advanced options, and
finally Command
Prompt.
- Now that Command
Prompt is open, type the following command:
4. · copy c:\windows\system32\utilman.exe c:\
5. ...and
then press Enter. You should see a 1 file(s) copied confirmation.
6. · Next, type this
command, again followed by Enter:
7. copy c:\windows\system32\cmd.exe c:\windows\system32\utilman.exe
8. Answer
with Y or Yes to question about the overwrite of the utilman.exe file. You should now
see another file copy confirmation.
9. · Remove any flash
drives or discs that you may have booted from in Step 1 and then restart your
computer.
10. · Once the Windows 8
logon screen is available, click the Ease of Access icon
at the bottom-left corner of the screen. Command Prompt
should now open.
What?! Command Prompt? That's
right! The changes you made in Step 3 & 4 above replaced the Ease of Access tools with Command Prompt (don't worry, you'll
reverse these changes in Step 11). Now that you have access to a command line,
you can reset your Windows 8 password.
11. · Next you need to
execute the net user command as shown below, replacing myusername with your user name, and mynewpassword with the password you'd like to
begin using:
12. · Close Command Prompt.
13. · Login with the new
password you set in Step 7!
14. · Now that your
Windows 8 password has been reset and you're back in, either create a Windows 8
password reset disk or switch your local account to a Microsoft account. No
matter which you choose, you'll finally have legitimate, and much easier to use,
Windows 8 password reset options.
15. · Finally, you
should reverse the hack that makes this password reset trick work in Windows 8.
To do that, repeat Steps 1 & 2 above.
Once Command Prompt is open again,
execute this command:
16.copy c:\utilman.exe c:\windows\system32\utilman.exe
17. Confirm the overwriting by answering Yes and then restart your computer.
