Can't remember my password.

I am trying to transfer my account to another laptop. I can't remember what my account password is. I have been trying for several weeks now without success. Microsoft wants to send details to an address that is no more and I can't change my info because of this dilemma. It's catch 22. I've filled in the requisite forms over and over to no avail. How do I get passed this brick wall of Microsofts?

johnd2117 said:

I am trying to transfer my account to another laptop. I can't remember what my account password is. I have been trying for several weeks now without success. Microsoft wants to send details to an address that is no more and I can't change my info because of this dilemma. It's catch 22. I've filled in the requisite forms over and over to no avail. How do I get passed this brick wall of Microsofts?

Click to expand...

If you can’t remember your password and you no longer have access to the recovery email, the only way to regain access is to use a device that is still signed into that Microsoft Account. If you don’t have one, your only option is the account recovery form — but you must fill it out from the same device, browser, and home network you used in the past. If you submit it from a new laptop or new location, it will fail every time.

If you can’t pass the recovery form and you don’t have a signed‑in device, the account cannot be recovered. Microsoft cannot override this. In that case, you will need to create a new Microsoft Account.

This isn’t Microsoft being unreasonable. It’s Microsoft protecting accounts from unauthorized access.

If the user can’t prove ownership, Microsoft cannot unlock the account — even if the user insists it’s theirs.

johnd2117 said:

I am trying to transfer my account to another laptop. I can't remember what my account password is

Click to expand...

Is the password saved in a web browser's password history, on the old device?

Where else might this account and password have been used?

Tough!

The whole idea of having a password is to prevent someone who doesn't know the password from gaining access!

That said, here is a way to get at your data at least:

NOTE: This won't work if your drive is BitLocker encrypted!

1) Remove the Windows drive and connect it to another system that is running Windows

OR

Install a secondary copy of Windows to that same drive.

2) Either from the other system that you have connected the drive to or from your secondary installation of Windows, you will at least be able to gain access to your data. You should be able to connect to and access all files on that other drive, although it is likely that you will need to take ownership of files.

3) Reinstall Windows and copy back over your rescued data. Don't forget the password this time! Yes, you will need to reinstall all apps.

IMPORTANT: While this is optional, I would suggest obtaining and using a backup program to make an image of the current drive before you reinstall Windows to it and preferably before you take ownership of files. Best idea is to do this FIRST. Since you cannot logon to it you would need to do the backup from the rescue disk for the backup program. I suggest this so that if you forget to move any data over in the above steps and realize later that you forgot something at a later time, you can get to it from your backup.

Well, when I was working in a Computer Store we had many customers that had forgotten their passwords and could not access their computers. With their permission we removed the password (for a local account) using a Windows Live USB with the appropriate utilities, such as Sergei Strelec's WinPE. If it was a Microsoft account we converted it to local account first, see below.


Download the ISO and create a USB flash drive using Rufus. If you have a Ventoy USB add the ISO there. Boot it to see a list of options. The first is to boot in Windows 11 environment with tools. Select it and press ENTER to load. If you click on start button you see a list of folders (categories) in the start menu. Select the Password Reset category to see the available utilities. Load any of them to reset the password.

NOTE: If it is a Microsoft account, at least one utility can convert it to a local account and then remove the password. I think it is the first in the list, not sure. Try and see.

After you restart your computer and login without password you can define a new password, or convert the local account to Microsoft again, this time using an account for which you know the password.