Instead of a password, Windows 10 lets you log in with a simple PIN number. Here is how to enable PIN security on Windows 10.
Windows 10 has several different sign-in options alongside regular password protection. Those options include facial recognition, picture password, security key, fingerprint, and PIN security. Collectively or individually, these are called Windows Hello authentication.
Compared to a regular password, the advantage of a PIN number is that it works as an alternative fast sign-in method. As you can know, a good general password contains a combination of several letters, numbers, and even special characters. Though this is secure, it can be quite tedious to type it each and every time you log into your system. This is especially true if you frequently lock your Windows 10 computer.
To eliminate this, you can turn on PIN security. By enabling pin security, you can easily log into your system by just typing in the numbers. What’s more? when using pin security you don’t even have to press the Enter button. You will be automatically logged in when you enter the correct pin number. Of course, when needed, you can easily switch to regular password protection right on the login screen.
Let me show you how to enable PIN security on Windows 10.
Enable Windows 10 PIN Security
- Press Win + I to open the Settings app.
- Go to “Accounts -> Sign-in Options” page.
- On the right-panel, select the “Windows Hello PIN” option.
- Click “Add” in the expanded menu.
- When prompted, type your user account password and click “Ok“.
- Type in a new PIN number and click “Ok“.
- The PIN must be at least four characters long.
- The PIN should not be a commonly used one, like 12345, 00000, 111111, etc.
- That is it. The Pin is set.
From now on, when you try to log in, Windows 10 will prompt you for the PIN rather than the password. As soon as you enter the pin, you will be logged in automatically. No need to press the Enter key on your keyboard.
If you want to use your regular password, click on the “Sign-in Options” link under the PIN field on the login screen and select the “Key” icon. This option will allow you to type your regular password to login.
Change PIN Number on Windows 10
To change the PIN, go to the Sign-in Options page within the Settings app, select “Windows Hello PIN” and click on the “Change” button. When changing the PIN number, you will need to enter your user account password to confirm yourself.
Remove PIN Security in Windows 10
To remove PIN security, open the Settings app and go to the “Accounts -> Sign-in options” page. Here, click on the “Windows Hello PIN” option and then click on the “Remove” button. Confirm yourself by entering the regular user account password and Windows will remove the PIN security. The additional confirmation adds an additional layer of security so that other users cannot remove PIN security without proper authorization.
Conclusion
That is it. It is that simple to enable Windows Hello PIN security on Windows 10. Keep in mind that you can enable multiple authentication systems to log into your Windows 10 system. For instance, you can even enable Windows 10 facial recognition or fingerprint authentication with no problem.
If you like this article, you might also like to learn how to auto login on Windows 10 and how to open emoji panel on Windows 10. Do check them out.