Windows 10: Wrong password after upgrade - you can do that

Many users report that their password is incorrect after upgrading to Windows 10. We'll show you how to access your account again.

Windows 10 upgrade: password is suddenly wrong

• If your password consists partly of numbers, a simple trick can already help. Do not use the numbers on the number pad. Instead, use the numbers in the second row of the keyboard.
• You should also check whether the US keyboard layout has been activated. In this case, switch back to "DE" and try again.
• If you use a Microsoft account to log in, you can easily reset the password. To do this, open the following Microsoft website and follow the instructions. All you need is another PC or smartphone.
• Tip: If the following instructions do not help, take a look at this practical tip. Here is another option that doesn't always work smoothly on Windows 10.

Windows 10: reset password

If you do not get any other way, you will have to reset your password.

1. First, you need to install Windows 10 on a USB stick. Follow the complete instructions. Alternatively, you can also use a blank DVD or an external hard drive.
2. If you have booted from the USB stick, the installation of Windows 10 starts. Do not click on "Next" or "Install now" (see picture).
3. Instead, press the [Shift] and [F2] keys simultaneously to open the command prompt.
4. Enter the command "move c: \ windows \ system32 \ utilman.exe d: \ windows \ system32 \ utilman.alt" and confirm with the [Enter] key.
5. The same applies to the following command: copy c: \ windows \ system32 \ cmd.exe d: \ windows \ system32 \ utilman.exe
6. Close all windows and confirm aborting the installation. Then Windows starts again.
7. If you click on the "Ease of Access" button in the bottom right corner of the login screen, the prompt starts instead.
8. With the command "net user USER NewPasswort" you can easily change the password of a local user and get access again. Replace USER with the user name and new password with a desired password.
9. Confirm the command with [Enter] and close the window. Now you can log in again.
10. If you are using a Microsoft account instead of a local account, you have access in other ways. Read on in the next paragraph.
11. In step 4 the file "Utilman.exe" was renamed to "Utilman.alt". After successful work, open the path "C: \ windows \ system32 \" and rename the file again.

Windows 10: Create administrator

If you are using a Microsoft account, the password can only be reset using the above method. If that doesn't work, you can still save your data. For this purpose, a second user with administrator rights is created from step 7.

1. With the commands "net user NAME PASSWORD / add" and "net localgroup administrators NAME / add" a new administrator account is added.
2. Replace NAME with an unused username and PASSWORD with a password with at least 8 characters. Windows requires large and small letters and at least one special character.
3. If you restart Windows, you can log in to the new administrator account. You now have access to the data of the other accounts and can save them.