There are various options and utilities that make it possible to access a computer with a lost password. Below is a listing of popular options and utilities available to try.

Log into an alternate account

Gaining access to an account or computer that’s not yours without permission using any of the steps below is against the law.

Often many users will leave the administrator account alone or have other accounts with administrator rights. If you are not logging into the computer using the administrator account or have other accounts that you can utilize, follow the steps below to reset your other account’s password.

  • Reboot the computer into Safe Mode.
  • When logging into Safe Mode, when prompted to choose an account, select the Administrator account. If prompted for a password, try pressing Enter on the keyboard for no password. If this does not work, try other passwords you may have used. If you are cannot log in to the Administrator account, skip to the next suggestion.
  • Once you have logged in to the Administrator account, open the Control Panel, and click User Accounts.
  • In User Accounts, select the account you want to change, click Change Password, and then enter the new password or click remove the password to remove the password from the account.

Windows users and creating a password reset disk

If you have Windows XP, use the “Prevent a forgotten password” option to create a password reset diskette. Use the diskette created to recover the forgotten password.

Utilizing this option requires you to complete part of the process before having forgotten your password.

  • How to prevent a forgotten password in Windows XP.

To create a password reset disk in Windows Vista, 7, or 8, open the Control Panel, and click User Accounts, then Create a password reset disk.

If you have Windows 10, type Password Reset in the search box, then select the Create a password reset disk option in the search results. Follow the on-screen steps to create the password reset disk.

Offline NT Password & Registry Editor

The Offline NT Password & Registry Editor is a great utility that enables users to overwrite their Windows SAM file, the file containing their passwords, with a new password. Unfortunately, you cannot see the previous password, but you can access unencrypted files again.

You need to connect a USB flash drive to your computer before accessing the “Create a password reset disk” utility in Windows Vista and later versions. If you don’t, you may get an error stating the utility could not find a USB drive attached.

  • Offline NT Password & Registry Editor.

Emergency Boot Kit

The EmBootKit (Emergency Boot Kit) has many useful features. One of its most important features is changing a user’s password without needing to know the previous password, including the administrator password.

  • Emergency Boot Kit official website.

Other utilities

There are many free and commercial utilities available for bypassing or changing an unknown password in Microsoft Windows. The above two utilities are popular solutions and are highly recommended. If these utilities do not suit your needs, you may also want to perform a quick search on your favorite search engine.

Data recovery

After trying the above suggestions, if you cannot access files you need to access, some data recovery companies can access your data.

  • How to recover missing, lost, or deleted files.

Format and reinstall Windows on the computer

If, after trying all of these steps you cannot access your computer, we recommend erasing everything on the computer and reinstall Windows.

  • How to erase my hard drive and start over?
  • How to change a username or password.
  • What is my Windows username?
  • How to disable the Windows password prompt.
  • How to view saved Wi-Fi passwords in Windows 10.
  • Help and information on computer passwords.
  • Microsoft Windows help and support.