Use Another Admin Account to Reset a Forgotten Windows Password
On family and small-office PCs there is often a second keyholder without anyone realising it: another administrator account. That person can reset a forgotten local password from inside Windows, no tools involved. This page covers how - and the one cost that must be said out loud before anyone clicks anything.
By Technical AnshuWindows 10 / 115 minute read
Watch the full video - Reset Forgotten Windows Password, step by step
This is the classic "my son set up my laptop" scenario, in reverse and in every direction. If any account on the PC is an administrator and its owner can sign in, your local password can be replaced in minutes. It is a legitimate, built-in route - and it is a reset, not a recovery. Windows will not show anyone your old password, and replacing it has side effects the next card states plainly, because they cannot be undone.
Administrator command prompt - the reset, done from inside Windows
net user (lists every account on this PC)
net user Ravi * (Windows asks for the new password twice)
The command completed successfully.
Ravi can sign in with the new passwordAccount, files and apps untouchedBACK IN
Ravi's EFS-encrypted files and saved passwordsSealed to the OLD password - permanently unreadableTHE COST
Caption: one command, two outcomes. Know both halves before running it.
⚖️ Ethics first: every route on this page is for a computer you own, or one its owner has asked you to recover. Using the same steps on someone else's PC without permission is illegal in most places, including under India's IT Act - and several of these routes permanently destroy the owner's encrypted files even when they "work". If the PC is not yours, stop here and hand it back.
1
The Reset Itself - Three Ways, Same Result
Sign in with the working administrator account, then use whichever route your Windows edition offers:
Command line (works everywhere): open Command Prompt as administrator and run net user to see the exact account names, then net user Ravi * - replacing Ravi with the locked account's name - and type the new password twice when asked. The * makes Windows prompt instead of printing the password on screen.
Computer Management (Pro editions): open lusrmgr.msc, go to Users, right-click the account and choose Set Password.
Settings: on some editions, Settings, Accounts, Other users lets an administrator reset a local account's password through the account options.
Notice the warning Windows itself shows on the graphical routes - that losing access to encrypted files and stored passwords is possible. The next card explains why that warning deserves to be read twice.
2
Say the Cost Out Loud Before You Click
A reset is not a change. You are not proving knowledge of the old password; you are overriding it, and Windows protects some things precisely against that:
EFS-encrypted files become unreadable - forever. If the locked account ever ticked "Encrypt contents to secure data" on any folder, those files were sealed with keys wrapped in the old password. The new password does not unwrap them. No tool, shop or service restores them.
DPAPI-protected secrets are lost. Saved passwords in browsers and apps, stored network and Wi-Fi credentials, and personal certificates are encrypted under the old password. After a reset they are present but undecryptable - the apps will simply ask for everything again.
Ordinary files are fine. Documents, photos, downloads - anything not specifically encrypted opens as normal.
So the conversation before the click is one question: "Did you ever encrypt anything, and can you live with re-entering every saved password?" For most home users the honest answer makes this route cheap. For the one user with an encrypted folder of scanned documents, it changes the decision entirely - and they deserve to make it knowingly.
3
When This Route Does Not Apply
Know the boundaries so nobody wastes an evening:
Microsoft accounts: another admin cannot reset them this way. At most they can remove the account from the PC - a destructive step that is never the answer to a forgotten password. Use the online reset page in this set.
The other account must be a real administrator. A standard account cannot reset anyone's password, including its own.
There is no other account at all: many single-user PCs have exactly one account. Then this door simply does not exist, and the remaining routes are the security questions, a reset disk made earlier, or the offline last resort.
Office PCs: the local admin may be your IT department, which is the same door with a uniform on - the office case page covers why that call is the right move there.
None of these are failures of the method. They are the shape of the lock, and this set has a page for each shape.
4
After the Reset - Hand the Account Back Properly
You are in. Finish the job like someone who expects to be thanked:
Sign out of the helper account and sign in to the recovered account with the new password yourself - prove it works before celebrating.
Change the password once more, this time chosen by the account's owner and stored in their password manager.
Re-enter the saved passwords that matter (mail, banking, work sites) and let the browser save them fresh.
Check for anything that does not open - that is the EFS cost showing itself - and be honest with the owner about what was lost and why.
Agree on the prevention stack below so the next lockout is cheaper: a reset disk, a recovery-ready Microsoft sign-in, or simply never again relying on a single memory.
A lockout handled this way usually ends with a better-secured PC than the one that got locked. That is the quiet upside worth collecting.
5
Never Get Locked Out Again - the Five-Minute Stack
Every recovery story on this page ends the same way: with the boring little setup that makes the next lockout a two-minute job instead of a lost weekend. Do it while you are signed in and everything is calm:
Local account? Create a password reset disk now (Case 3 shows how) and keep the USB somewhere safe.
Microsoft account? Open your account page and make sure the recovery phone number and backup email are current.
Save the BitLocker recovery key in two places - your Microsoft account plus a printed copy or a USB kept away from the PC.
Add a second administrator account with its own strong password, stored in your password manager.
Store the passwords themselves in a password manager, not in memory, not in a notebook, not in a file called passwords.txt.
Watch the Complete Process in the Video
The video shows the admin reset on screen, warning dialog included - watch what Windows itself tells you before it lets the reset through.
Can an administrator see my old password instead of resetting it?
No. Windows never stores local passwords in a readable form, and no built-in tool reveals them - not to admins, not to anyone. An administrator can only replace the password with a new one, which is exactly why the EFS and saved-secret costs exist.
What exactly do I lose when another admin resets my password?
Two specific things: files you encrypted with EFS become permanently unreadable, and secrets protected by your old password - saved browser and app passwords, stored credentials, personal certificates - can no longer be decrypted and must be re-entered. Ordinary documents, photos and apps are completely unaffected.
Both accounts on our family PC are standard accounts. Can we still use this route?
No - resetting another user's password requires administrator rights. If no account on the PC is an administrator, this door is closed and the remaining options are the account's own security questions, a reset disk created earlier, or the offline last-resort route described in its own page.
This guide is based on the Technical Anshu video linked above - Stuck on a step? Ask in the video comments - you will get an answer