With Windows Hello, one can use a PIN, facial recognition, or fingerprint to sign into their devices. When you are setting up facial recognition or fingerprint to sign into Windows, you’ll also need to set up a PIN. A PIN can also be used independently to sign into Windows 11. A good reason one should use a PIN with their Windows 11 device is that it helps make it easier and safer to sign into your PC because a PIN is associated with one device, and it’s backed up for recovery with their Microsoft account. When a password is used with an account, it can be intercepted in transmission, or stolen from the cache or a password manager. A PIN is local to the device, it cannot be used remotely to access an account, or stolen from a cache or password manager and used on other devices. Hello, the PIN is backed by a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip and integrated with the hardware which makes it more secure than a password. If you set up a PIN with your Windows account and you which to remove it, the steps below show you how to do that.
How to remove a PIN from your account in Windows 11
With all the benefits and security of using a PIN with your Windows account still not good for you, you can remove it anytime. However, if you remove the PIN from your account, it will also remove any facial recognition or fingerprint login since a PIN is required for all Windows Hello sign-in options. Removing the PIN from a Microsoft account will also turn off Account protection in Windows Security. To remove a PIN from your account in Windows 11, use the steps below: Windows 11 has a centralized location for the majority of its settings. From system configurations to creating new users and updating Windows, all can be done from its System Settings pane. To get to System Settings, you can use the Windows key + I shortcut or click on Start ==> Settings as shown in the image below: Alternatively, you can use the search box on the taskbar and search for Settings. Then select to open it. Windows Settings pane should look similar to the image below. In Windows Settings, click Accounts, then select the Sign-in options tile on the right pane of your screen shown in the image below. On the Sign-in options settings pane, under Ways to sign in, click on the PIN (Windows Hello) tile to expand it. Then click the Remove button for the PIN sign-in option to remove the PIN from your account. Under Additional settings, make sure that the option “For improved security, only allow Windows Hello sign-in for Microsoft accounts on this device (Recommended)” is disabled. Click Remove to confirm. Enter your Windows account password (not PIN) to verify, and click and select OK. That should do it! You can close the Windows Settings app. Conclusion: This post showed you how to remove a PIN from a Windows account in Windows 11. If you find any error above or have something to add, please use the comment form below.
