Troubleshoot problems signing in to Windows

If you can't remember your Windows sign in information, use our self-help tools to  get you back into your account:

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In some cases, restarting your device can resolve sign-in issues. This is often one of the first troubleshooting steps to try as it can clear temporary system errors that may be causing the problem

If updates are available, select Power > Update and restart to restart your device and finish installing updates.

In some cases, you might not be able to sign-in without an Internet connection.

Make sure you’re connected to the internet by selecting Network on the lock screen of your device. If you’re having problems connecting to Wi-Fi or the signal is weak, try connecting your device directly to the router or modem with an Ethernet cable.

If connectivity problems persist, check your internet connection using a different device to see if it’s a network problem.

Try the following when typing your password to sign in:

• Type your password using the on-screen keyboard. Select Accessibility > On-screen keyboard and select the keys to type your password

• Make sure Caps Lock is off

• Check that you’re entering the right information: a password in the Password field or a PIN in the PIN field. If you’re using a Microsoft account, you can switch between entering a PIN and a password by selecting Sign-in options

• If you use more than one keyboard layout, make sure the keyboard language you’re trying to use is selected. To check your keyboard layout, select the input method (a three-letter code in the bottom-right corner)

• If you recently changed your password, try entering your previous one again. If your previous password works, you’ll need to lock your device and then unlock it using your new password

• Test your password by using another device to sign in to account.microsoft.com. If your password works, but account.microsoft.com shows your account is locked or interrupted, the site will walk you through those issues

• Before typing your password or PIN, select Reveal . This way, you can double-check that you’re typing the right password or PIN before you enter it

If you're having trouble using your PIN to sign in, try to reset your PIN.

If you're having trouble using your password to sign in, try to reset your password.

If you're having troubles to sign in with Windows Hello, review the Windows Hello common issues and troubleshooting tips. 

If you have multiple accounts on your device, try signing in with another account.

On the sign-in screen, select another account from the list in the lower left. To sign in with an account that’s not listed, select Other user and type that account’s credentials.

Starting your device in Safe Mode can help troubleshoot sign-in problems. If you can sign in using Safe Mode, it means that basic device drivers and default settings weren’t causing the sign-in problem.

To restart in Safe Mode:

1. Restart your device by selecting Power > Restart . When you see the sign-in screen, hold the Shift key while you select Power > Restart

2. After your PC restarts to the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart

3. After your PC restarts, you'll see a list of options. The preferred option is to select 5 or press F5 for Safe Mode with Networking

Learn more about signing in to Safe Mode when you experience a black screen or blank screen problem.

If you try to sign in to Windows and receive the error message We can't sign in to your account, or you receive a notification saying You’ve been signed in with a temporary profile, Windows creates a temporary profile and signs you in with that one.

Here are some things to try to get signed back in to your Windows profile:

• Restart your device in safe mode and sign in with your original profile. Check to see if your settings and files are restored

• Restart your device in normal mode and sign in again with your original profile. Check to see if your settings and files are restored. (You might need to restart your device more than once.)

• If multiple restarts don't help, try temporarily disabling your antivirus software or any other app that might scan your device during sign-in.

  Note: Some antivirus products may have additional components which affect the system and may only be disabled after complete removal and a system reboot.

• If you continue to experience issues signing in with your original profile, disable Windows Defender services: Open the Services app by typing services in the search box on the task bar and selecting it from the list of results. Then, find the Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection and Microsoft Defender Antivirus services, right-click each of them, select Properties , and change Startup Type to Disabled , selecting OK after each change. Restart your device in normal mode and try to sign in with your original profile.

  Note: After troubleshooting and resolving the issue, remember to set the Windows Defender services back to Automatic.

• If you still can't sign in, try creating a new local administrator account, sign in to that new account, then follow the steps in Fix a corrupted user profile to copy your personal data from the old profile into the newly created one.

In case your user profile gets corrupted, here are the steps to create a new one.

1. Add a new user account and configure it as an administrator. For detailed steps, see the article Manage user accounts in Windows

2. Sign in with the newly created account and copy the files from the corrupted profile:

• Open your User folder by selecting Start , typing file explorer into the Search box, and selecting File Explorer in the list of results.

• Select This PC, then select the hard drive that Windows is installed on (it's usually your C: drive), then the Users folder, then the folder with the name of your account

  Warning: Do not change File Explorer view options to show hidden files and folders or show hidden protected operating system files.

• Locate the C:\Users\<Old_Username> folder, where C is the drive that Windows is installed on, and Old_Username is the name of the profile you want to copy files from

• Select all of the files and folders in this folder, then select the Edit menu and select Copy

• Locate the C:\Users\<New_Username> folder, where C is the drive that Windows is installed on, and New_Username is the name of the new user profile you created

• Select the Edit menu and select Paste

• Restart the PC, then log back in as the new user

If you have email messages in an email program, you must import your email messages and addresses to the new user profile separately.

Some applications previously installed might need to be reconfigured or reinstalled.

If you were logged into Microsoft Store apps like the Store or Movies & TV, you might need to log back into those apps to see your previous purchases or restore settings.