How do you unlock a dell laptop if you forgot the password

Can't access to your Dell Windows 10 laptop as you forgot password? Forgetting laptop password isn't fun. It causes you not able to log on to the laptop, delaying your work and even losing all your personal files. So you need to reset password to regain access to your laptop. If you use a Microsoft account to sign in, you can simply reset your password via Microsoft site. But if you use a local account to log in, things won't be so easy. A password reset disk makes it easy to reset the password on your Dell laptop. But if you don't have a reset disk, how do you reset Dell laptop password without disk? That's the problem we will solve on this page.


  • Part 1: Reset Dell Windows 10 laptop password with password reset disk
  • Part 2: Forgot Dell Windows 10 laptop password without reset disk

Part 1: Reset Dell Windows 10 laptop password with password reset disk

If you've created a password reset disk before within Windows 10, just insert that disk (USB drive) into a USB port on your Dell laptop so that you can reset your password by clicking the "Reset password" link on Windows 10 login screen, which should appear under the Password box each time you use an incorrect password to sign in.

How do you unlock a dell laptop if you forgot the password

Didn't create a disk? Skip to Part 2.

Part 2: Forgot Dell laptop password without password reset disk

If you didn't create a disk in advance, it's not your default. After all, a password reset disk needs to occupy a whole USB drive, which means that USB drive should always sit there to wait and you can't use it to do any other task until you forget your laptop password. Never mind. Here are two password reset methods for you, if you forgot Dell Windows 10 laptop password without password reset disk.


  • Method 1: by security questions
  • Method 2: using Windows Password Refixer

Method 1: Reset Dell Windows 10 laptop password by security questions

If you are wondering how to reset Dell Windows 10 laptop password without using any disk, there is only one way: by answering security questions, but only if you are using Windows 10 v1803 or higher on your Dell laptop and have already set up security questions for your user account.

When you enter an incorrect password to sign in, you will get a message on the Windows 10 login screen: "The password is incorrect. Try again." Click OK under that message so that a link labeled "Reset password" will appear under the Password box. Click that "Reset password" link so that your security questions will display on the screen. Enter your correct answers to the security questions so that you will be allowed to reset your password and then directly log on to your Dell Windows 10 laptop with the new password.

How do you unlock a dell laptop if you forgot the password

Didn't set up security questions or forgot the answers? Use a password reset disk instead or skip to Method 2.

Method 2: Reset Dell Windows 10 laptop password with Windows Password Refixer

If you forgot Dell laptop password without any password reset disk or security questions created, and have no other accounts available, then you have to use a third-party Windows Password recovery tool like Windows Password Refixer to reset your password. Here are the steps.

Step 1: Create a Windows Password Refixer disk

As you now can't access to your Dell Windows 10 laptop, you have to use another device (Windows PC or Mac) to download and install the Windows Password Refixer tool. Once you have it installed, you launch it and then follow its on-screen instruction to burn it into a USB device or CD/DVD flash drive to create a password reset disk.

How do you unlock a dell laptop if you forgot the password

Step 2: Boot Dell Windows 10 laptop from the disk

Now insert that Windows Password Refixer disk into a USB port or CD-ROM drive on your Dell laptop. Start/restart the laptop. Once the first vendor logo appears, immediately press and hold the Setup key (F2) or Boot options key (F12) to enter the BIOS Setup interface or the Boot menu and then set that disk (USB device or CD/DVD flash drive) as the first boot device so that your Dell laptop will boot from that disk.

How do you unlock a dell laptop if you forgot the password

Step 3: Reset password for Dell Windows 10 laptop

If you make your Dell laptop boot from that USB or CD flash drive correctly, now Windows Password Refixer will start working. It displays the Windows 10 OS running on your Dell laptop and lists all user accounts existing on your laptop. Just select your Windows 10 as well as that password-forgotten user, and then click the Reset Password button to reset the password.

How do you unlock a dell laptop if you forgot the password

After the password is reset, restart your Dell laptop. Just click the Reboot button and remove the Windows Password Refixer disk from the Dell laptop so that your laptop will restart. This time it will start normally from its local system drive and then you can directly sign in to Windows 10 without password required.

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How do I bypass the lock screen on a Dell laptop?

Hold down the shift key on your keyboard while clicking the Power button on the screen. Continue to hold down the shift key while clicking Restart. Continue to hold down the shift key until the Advanced Recovery Options menu appears. After setting it up, follow these steps to setup your account.

Can you unlock a laptop if you forgot the password?

It's not possible to reset a forgotten password and the only option then open to you is to completely reset Windows. This will erase your documents, photos, music, programs, apps and settings. Windows 10 will go back to how it was when you first bought the laptop or PC.