How to Reset a Local Account Password in Windows?

Note :- Your PC should have only 1 Local Admin account (will not work on Multiple Users or Online Account)


Procedure:-

1. Boot into Recovery Mode:

- Option 1: Hold Shift and click on Restart (from the Start menu or sign-in screen).
- Option 2: Press F9 repeatedly while your computer is booting up to access the Recovery.

2. Enter Troubleshoot Options:

- Once you're in the recovery environment, choose:
- Troubleshoot -> Advanced Options -> Command Prompt

3. Backup the Utility Manager (Utilman.exe):

- In the Command Prompt window, type the following command to back up the original Utilman.exe (which controls accessibility features):

copy C:\Windows\System32\Utilman.exe C:\Windows\System32\Utilman.exe.bak

4. Replace Utilman.exe with Command Prompt (cmd.exe):

- Next, type this command to replace Utilman.exe with cmd.exe:

copy C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe C:\Windows\System32\Utilman.exe /y

5. Continue and Boot Windows:

- After entering the commands, click Continue on the recovery screen to boot back into Windows.

6. Open Command Prompt via Accessibility:

- After Windows has booted, on the bottom-right corner, click the Accessibility icon (the icon with the person or wheelchair).
This will open Command Prompt instead of the usual accessibility tools.

7. Identify Your Account Name:

- In the Command Prompt, type the following command to see a list of local accounts:

net localgroup administrators

- You'll see a list of accounts. Note the name of your local account.

8. Reset the Password:

- To reset the password for your account (replace Shivam with your actual account name), type:

net user Shivam *


- Press Enter, and it will prompt you to create a new password. Type the new password and confirm it.

- For names with Spaces, wrap them with "" like this

net user "Shivam Shastik" *



9. Login:

- After completing the password reset, you can now log in with the new password.

10. Restore Utilman.exe:

- Once you've logged in successfully, open Command Prompt again and type the following command to restore the original Utilman.exe file:

del C:\Windows\System32\Utilman.exe
rename C:\Windows\System32\Utilman.exe.bak C:\Windows\System32\Utilman.exe

This will undo the changes and return the Utilman.exe file back to its original state.

Written by @ShastikXD @BuildBytes