7 Ways to Find Lost Windows Passwords

The quickest and easiest way to get back into Windows after losing your password is to reset it online...but only if you have Windows 10 or Windows 8 and only if you use a Microsoft account to log in. If that doesn't describe your situation, move on to the next idea.

Since you use your Microsoft account as your Windows 10/8 credentials, and since Microsoft manages those accounts online, you can easily reset your lost Windows 10 or Windows 8 password from any browser, on any computer or device, including your smartphone.

If you don't use Windows 10 or Windows 8, or do but log in with a local account, the easiest way to get out of a "lost Windows password" predicament is to use your password reset disk—assuming, of course, you have one. You'll know if you do.

Creating a password reset disk, which can actually be a flash drive or a floppy disk, depending on your version of Windows, is something you have to do before you lose your Windows password, not after. So, as is probably obvious, this option isn't going to do you any good if you never created one yourself before losing access to Windows.

However, once you do find your lost Windows password, as we're sure you will with one of the other methods below, come right back here and learn how to create a password reset disk so you can avoid all this trouble next time.

The next easiest way to find a lost Windows password is to forget the idea of finding it at all! Just have one of the other users on your computer change your lost password for you.

This will only work if one of the other people you share your computer with has a Windows log-on account that's set up with administrator level access. One account usually is, so be sure to give this a try with as many accounts as you can.

Obviously, you'll have to pass on this idea entirely if you're the only user on your computer.

Don't laugh! We know this might seem like obvious advice and something we're sure you think you've done already. Your first reaction to a lost password was probably to "think really hard," and that didn't work.

The trick here is to make an educated guess. Most passwords, even complicated and well-designed ones, are inspired by the people, places, and things in the account holder's life.

For example, could your lost Windows password have had something to do with a loved one's birthday, a pet's name, an often dialed telephone number, etc.? See the link above for tons of great ideas to get your wheels turning.

Hacking into Windows might sound dangerous, illegal, and too complicated, but the reality is quite the opposite.

Windows password recovery tools are just software programs that you can freely download from various legitimate websites and then use to either find the lost Windows password or quickly reset/delete it, allowing you back in.

If downloading unfamiliar software, burning discs, or mastering flash drives doesn't sound like things you're interested in, give this a try.

You'll have to do a little command-line work but all you'll need is access to your Windows installation or recovery media...and a little patience.

On the other hand, the automatic password reset and recovery tools, which we just mentioned in No. 5 above, are probably going to be faster solutions from start-to-finish for most of you, than using this method.