How to Enable Password Sign-In Instead of PIN in Windows 11

When Windows 11 is provisioned with a Microsoft Account (rather than with a local account), you’re typically prompted to create a Windows Hello PIN for sign-in instead of using your MSA account password. While a PIN is generally considered a secure and convenient alternative to typing a long password, there are certain administrative or troubleshooting scenarios in which password-based authentication is required. In this article, we’ll look at how to change the Windows 11 sign-in method from a PIN to a password.

If you forget your PIN, you can reset it and sign in with your Microsoft Account password by selecting I forgot my PIN on the sign-in screen. This requires an active Internet connection to submit the PIN reset request and complete verification.

Some users prefer to sign in to their computer using their account password rather than a PIN. However, the password sign-in option is not displayed by default on the Windows 11 logon screen.

How to Fix Missing Password Sign-in Option in Windows 11

By default, when Windows 11 is configured with a Microsoft account, Windows Hello authentication is enabled. It allows the user to sign in without entering a password, using a PIN, fingerprint, or facial recognition. Traditional password-based Windows sign-in is disabled.

To enable password sign-in:

1. Sign in to Windows and navigate to Settings -> Accounts ->Sign-in options.
2. Turn off the toggle For improved security, only allow Windows Hello Sign-in for Microsoft Accounts on this device (Recommended).
3. Open the Sign-in options page again. Password authentication and other traditional sign-in methods should appear in the list of available options.
4. A separate password sign-in option will appear on the Windows 11 sign-in screen. You can use it to sign in to the device with your Microsoft account password instead of using a PIN. If the computer is disconnected from the Internet, a locally cached account password will be used to sign in.

Enable the Password Sign-In Option via Windows 11 Recovery Environment (WinRE)

If the Windows Hello authentication methods (PIN, fingerprint, or facial recognition) fail, but the Microsoft account password is known, the password sign-in option can be explicitly enabled on the Windows logon screen by modifying the system configuration via the Recovery Environment (or by booting from external media like a Windows installation USB stick or a bootable LiveCD image).

In this example, we’ll use the built-in Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to make the changes.

1. On the Windows sign-in screen, click the Power button and press and hold the Shift key while clicking Restart.
2. The computer will boot into the recovery environment. Select Troubleshoot -> Advanced Options -> Command Prompt
3. Open the Command Prompt and run regedit to launch the Registry Editor.
4. In Registry Editor, select File -> Load Hive
5. Select the SOFTWARE file (without an extension) in C:\Windows\System32\Config . This file contains the settings loaded to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE registry key when the operating system boots up
6. Give the loaded registry hive an arbitrary name.
7. In the mounted hive, go to \Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\PasswordLess\Device and change the value of the DevicePasswordLessBuildVersion parameter to 0
8. Then navigate to \Microsoft\PolicyManager\default\Settings\AllowSignInOptions and change the value parameter to 0 .
9. Close the Registry Editor and command prompt, then select the option to boot Windows from the WinRE menu.
10. After this, the Windows 11 sign-in screen will display an option to sign in using your Microsoft account password, alongside the existing PIN sign-in method.