Use a Windows password reset disk
A Windows password reset disk is a recovery tool prepared for a local user account while you can still sign in. Despite the name, it commonly uses a USB flash drive. It is different from Windows installation media, a system-recovery drive, a BitLocker recovery key, and an online Microsoft account reset.
If you are already locked out and do not know the account type, begin with Windows account lockout. This page covers the narrower reset-disk feature for your own local account. It does not describe bypassing another user's login or changing an employer-managed account.
1. Check whether the account is local
Microsoft's reset-disk instructions state that the feature is for local accounts. If you sign in with a Microsoft account, use its online recovery process instead. A PIN shown on the Windows screen is also a different sign-in method from the account password.
Look at the account information while you still have access. If the computer is managed by an organization, ask its administrator which recovery method applies. Do not assume that a USB drive prepared for one user can reset another user's account on the same PC.
If the screen is asking for a BitLocker key before Windows starts, use BitLocker recovery. A local password reset disk does not decrypt the drive at that stage. Matching the recovery tool to the prompt prevents a useful precaution from being mistaken for a universal unlock device.
2. Create the disk before you need it
Follow Microsoft's official creation steps while signed in to the local account. Connect a USB flash drive, open the Create a password reset disk tool through Windows search or the account settings route Microsoft describes, and complete the Forgotten Password Wizard.
Select the intended removable drive carefully and enter the current local-account password when requested. Complete the wizard and confirm that it finishes before disconnecting the drive. Keep existing important files backed up before using removable storage for any system task.
Store the disk securely and label which computer and local account it serves without writing the account password on the same label. Someone who can use the reset tool may be able to change that account's password, so it should not sit permanently plugged into a shared computer.
3. Use the prepared disk at the local-password prompt
Follow the local-account recovery instructions in Microsoft's Windows password guidance. At the appropriate password-reset option, connect the disk created for that account and follow the wizard to choose a replacement password.
Read the screen to ensure you are resetting the password rather than a Windows Hello PIN. If the USB is not recognized as a reset disk, check that it is the original prepared drive for this account. Copying Windows installation files to a new USB after the lockout does not create the missing account-specific recovery material.
After the reset, test the new password and update your private record. Do not discard the disk merely because the account password changed; follow Microsoft's instructions about its continued use. Keep it protected as recovery material rather than treating it as an ordinary empty flash drive.
4. If no reset disk exists
Microsoft's Windows recovery article describes supported alternatives, including local-account security questions where configured and the appropriate online route for a Microsoft account. Use those options rather than downloading a third-party “reset disk” advertised after you are already locked out.
If another authorized administrator manages the PC, ask them about the supported account-reset procedure. Read any warnings about protected data before proceeding. For a work or school computer, the organization's administrator is the proper owner of that decision.
The feature depends on recovery material created while you had access. It is not a substitute for a BitLocker key, an online account's verification methods, or a forgotten password on another computer. If supported alternatives fail, a reset of Windows can involve data loss.
After you regain access
Review the local account's recovery setup and secure the USB in a place you can find. Keep a separate backup of important files; a password reset tool is not a data backup. Test your account's normal sign-in before making additional system changes.
Document which credential each recovery item protects: the local password, the Microsoft account, the Windows PIN, or disk encryption. That short inventory is more useful than several drives all labeled “Windows recovery.” Return to the main Windows guide if the next prompt belongs to a different layer, and use the matching official route instead of forcing the reset disk to do a job it was not designed for.
Instructions checked against vendor guidance on 24 September 2026.