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

Thank God for this thread, wasted half a day speaking to 2 IT people, advice was to format but really didn't want to do that. This worked a treat.

I'm glad I could help. I also had the same experience and was quite disappointed with the answers on here as well.

This is the best answer in this thread!

What Ryan has outlined works

1. It will take you into the dark recesses of your device
2. You may feel a bit concerned but it will work
3. And data is preserved in the process
4. You may need to reinstall software, but you won't need to wipe your data

See Ryan's detailed approach before doing anything else.

Worth printing out before you start

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!!!