How to Unlock a Device Locked Using Find my Device in the Microsoft Account

EDIT: More context, my device was still locked after a reset. Solution below allows your data to be preserved, and should be the first thing tried before resetting the computer.

Couldn't find a solution anywhere for this myself. Since this is the latest thread on the topic I will post the solution that worked for me here.

1. Restart device while holding shift to enter Windows Recovery Environment. Troubleshooting > Advanced Options > Open CMD. This is where you will need your recovery key.
2. After CMD is open, type "regedit" and hit enter.
3. Click "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE", then "File" in top left corner, then "Load Hive".
4. A file explorer should appear. It should be "System32" as the folder already. If not, follow: This PC > (C:) Drive > Windows > System32
5. Navigate to "Config" > "Software". Pop up box named "Keyname" should appear. Enter '1234' as keyname. Box will close after complete.
6. Expand "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" > expand folder "1234" > Microsoft > WindowsNT > CurrentVersion > PasswordLess > Device.
7. Double click "DevicePasswordBuildVersion" from window beside file directory. Change value data from '2' to '0'.
8. Restart computer by exiting the Recovery Environment.
9. Should now have access to "Sign-In Options" on the sign in page. Choose "Sign-In with Microsoft Account" and use your account details.
10. Everything should be back to normal, you will have to create a PIN again if you so choose, following the usual steps in settings.

Pretty ridiculous to have this option available without clearly informing the user of the ramifications, and the inability to unlock your device once found.

Okay so firstly Ryan Archer was a life saver. His method worked perfectly, saved my data and the hassle of a restore. Although I have a few refinements that I would like to add.

For step 1, holding shift while restarting didn’t send my Windows into recovery mode. What I did was to hold the power button to force shut down. Then started my computer again and soon as Windows began loading (Windows or Manufacturer’s logo appears), I force shut down again. I did this a second time and let it boot normally the third time. After this the recovery settings appeared.

Also, some people were asking about the “recovery key” mentioned in this step. It just means the pin or password that you use to normally sign in.

In step 5, after entering “1234” as key name, an error is encountered saying “file is used by another process”. A few people have also reported this issue above and there is also screenshot of it. The fix is simple, just go back all the folders to the root folder i.e “My Computer” where all the drives are listed. From there just follow the path Ryan provided’ which is PC > (C:) Drive > Windows > System32.

The problem was that the System32 folder initially available was from the Boot drive X, instead of C drive.

In step 7, the registry entry name for me and a few other people on this thread was "DevicePasswordlessBuildVersion" instead of "DevicePasswordBuildVersion". Although they work the same. Just change the value from 2 to 0.

Bonus Step at the end: You can use regedit and follow all these steps again to revert the value from 0 to 2 after the system is restored. The reason being that the additional sign in option for using the account password to log in remains on the log in screen after everything is done. But for me it wasn’t a problem and I did not revert the settings.

Lastly, I can’t say I’m surprised at Microsoft for doing something like this, but still I’m a little bit shocked at how this bug was able to fly under their QA team’s radar given the seriousness of the potential outcome of this problem and just how easily identifiable it was. I was just exploring the options within my Microsoft Account when I stumbled onto this “feature” and decided to try it out. Thankfully I’m tech savvy enough and Ryan’s guidance worked, otherwise I can’t imagine what those other people who spent days or weeks on this problem, going back and forth with IT support and still at the end losing all their data went through.

Here’s to hoping the devs realise this and patch it soon, not even that hard of a fix really.

Why these steps are not working . I awaiting for your reply. Thanks.

Hi, I am Dave, I will help you with this.

When you use the Lock option to remotely lock your device on the 'Find my Device' web page, the only option to get back into Windows is to reset Windows, you will not be able to log into the PC normally, usually you will see a notification that an Administrator needs to unlock the device, even though you are the administrator.

Click the power button on the Login screen.

Press the Shift Key and click Restart

Your PC will boot into the Windows Recovery Environment

Go to Troubleshoot - Advanced Options - Reset this PC

Choose to keep your files and apps.

Then start the Reset

EDIT: More context, my device was still locked after a reset. Solution below allows your data to be preserved, and should be the first thing tried before resetting the computer.

Couldn't find a solution anywhere for this myself. Since this is the latest thread on the topic I will post the solution that worked for me here.

1. Restart device while holding shift to enter Windows Recovery Environment. Troubleshooting > Advanced Options > Open CMD. This is where you will need your recovery key.
2. After CMD is open, type "regedit" and hit enter.
3. Click "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE", then "File" in top left corner, then "Load Hive".
4. A file explorer should appear. It should be "System32" as the folder already. If not, follow: This PC > (C:) Drive > Windows > System32
5. Navigate to "Config" > "Software". Pop up box named "Keyname" should appear. Enter '1234' as keyname. Box will close after complete.
6. Expand "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" > expand folder "1234" > Microsoft > WindowsNT > CurrentVersion > PasswordLess > Device.
7. Double click "DevicePasswordBuildVersion" from window beside file directory. Change value data from '2' to '0'.
8. Restart computer by exiting the Recovery Environment.
9. Should now have access to "Sign-In Options" on the sign in page. Choose "Sign-In with Microsoft Account" and use your account details.
10. Everything should be back to normal, you will have to create a PIN again if you so choose, following the usual steps in settings.

Pretty ridiculous to have this option available without clearly informing the user of the ramifications, and the inability to unlock your device once found.

Hi Ryan,

YOU ARE A LIFESAVER! THIS WORKED FOR ME

How on earth did you discover this solution? This worked like a miracle! Are you a software engineer?

I do have a few questions though, if you don't mind me asking.

1. For your 7th point, I didn't know what you mean by "from window beside file directory"?
2. For your 7th point, I saw "DevicePasswordLessBuildVersion", not "DevicePasswordBuildVersion." Are they the same thing?
3. In your instructions, you mentioned that we should create a file called "1234" under "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE". Each time we restart our computer by exiting the Recovery Environment, is the "1234" file automatically deleted? Do we have to somehow manually delete the "1234" file after we have fixed the problem every single time? If we don't delete the "1234" file, would that negatively impact our computers in any way?

After I fixed my computer by following your instructions, I went back to the same registry by following the same instructions you provided and noticed that the file called "1234" under "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" was not there anymore and that I had to create the file "1234" again in order to eventually access "DevicePasswordLessBuildVersion".

4. Moreover, I accessed the registry for a second time and when I went to "DevicePasswordLessBuildVersion", I noticed the value is still set to 0. Should I set it back to 2?

If the value is still set to 0, could this open our computers up to malware, viruses, or anything like that or would this negatively impact our computers in any way?

THANK YOU SO MUCH RYAN!!!