Creating a complex and secure password is an easy job but remembering a complex password is difficult. PC users often ask how to reset or recover a forgotten Windows user account password.
If you have set a complex password for your Windows 10 user account and are feared that you might forget the password someday, you can create a password reset disk so that you can easily reset the password if you forget the account password.
For those who don’t know, password reset disk feature is part of all recent versions of Windows operating system, including Windows XP and Vista.
The password reset disk can be created and used only for local user accounts. If you are using a Microsoft account to sign into Windows 10, you cannot create and use a password reset disk. Microsoft account users can refer to our how to change or reset Microsoft account password article to reset the forgotten password.
Remember that a password reset disk created for a user account cannot be used to reset the password on another account.
If you are on a local user account, go ahead and complete the directions given below to create a password reset disk on USB drive in Windows 10.
Create password reset disk on USB drive in Windows 10
IMPORTANT: Anyone can access your PC and data using the password reset disk. So, it’s important to store the password reset disk in a secure and accessible location.
Step 1: Connect your USB flash drive which you want to create password reset disk. Although Windows will not format the USB drive, we recommend you backup all data from USB drive to another location.
Step 2: Open Control Panel. To open it, type Control Panel in Start menu/taskbar search box and then pressing Enter key.
Step 3: In the Control Panel, change View by to Small icons.
Step 4: Click User Accounts to open User Account window. Here, you should see all user account related settings.
Step 5: In the left-pane, click Create a password reset disk link. Clicking the link will open Forgotten Password Wizard.
Step 6: Click the Next button.
Step 7: Select your USB drive from the drop-down list. Be sure to select the right USB drive to avoid data loss.
Step 8: Next, you will have to type your current Windows 10 account password for which you are creating the password reset disk. Enter the password and then click Next button.
Step 9: Clicking the Next button will begin creating your Windows 10 password reset disk. The disk should be ready in a few seconds.
Once the process is 100%, click the Next button.
Step 10: Finally, click the Finish button to close the wizard. Your Windows 10 password reset disk on USB drive is now ready to use.
Note that you don’t need to create a fresh password reset disk if you ever change your account password.
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