How to change account password using PowerShell on Windows 10

If you need to reset your local account password, you can also use PowerShell, and in this guide, you'll learn how on Windows 10.

Windows 10 PowerShell change account password
Windows 10 PowerShell change account password

On Windows 10, you can change your local account password using Control Panel, Command Prompt, and PowerShell, and in this guide, you will learn how. If you must change or reset your account password because it’s been compromised, or it’s too easy to guess, and you want to set a more complex password, you can use a few simple PowerShell commands.

In this guide, you’ll learn the steps to change the current password of your Windows 10 local account using PowerShell.

Change account password from PowerShell on Windows 10

To change a local account password from PowerShell, use these steps:

  1. Open Start on Windows 10.

  2. Search for PowerShell, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.

  3. Type the following command to list all the available accounts and press Enter:

    Get-LocalUser

    PowerShell get users command

  4. Type the following command to create and store the new password inside of a variable and press Enter:

    $Password = Read-Host "Enter the new password" -AsSecureString
  5. Type the new password for the account and press Enter.

  6. Type the following command and press Enter on each line to apply the new password to the local account:

    $UserAccount = Get-LocalUser -Name "admin"
    $UserAccount | Set-LocalUser -Password $Password

    In the second command, make sure to replace “admin” with the name of the account to reset its password.

    PowerShell change account password

Once you complete the steps, sign out and sign back into your Windows 10 account using the new password.

The instructions outlined above apply to a local account. If you have a Microsoft account, you must follow these steps to change or reset the password. If you want to reset a password from Command Prompt, use this other guide instead. Also, even though this guide focuses on Windows 10, the above steps should work on Windows 8.1 and 7.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].