Fingerprint reader not working on Windows 11: "This option is currently unavailable"

Reported
Anonymous
2021-11-28T21:29:19+00:00

I recently got a Dell Inspiron with Windows 11 preloaded. The fingerprint reader was working fine at first, but now it appears to not be working with windows hello. The option to add a finger or remove the fingerprint are greyed out and not clickable.

I've seen posts about this issue in Windows 10, but the fixes aren't working for me.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Accounts, profiles, and login

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments No comments

208 answers

Sort by: Newest
  1. Anonymous
    2023-01-05T21:27:19+00:00

    Yo Carlo - nice one, this worked for me too! Was driving me mad!!!
    Happy New Year dude.

    0 comments No comments
  2. Deleted

    This answer has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The answer was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.


    Comments have been turned off. Learn more

  3. Anonymous
    2022-12-25T10:32:46+00:00

    I am very curious. What is wrong with this windows 11 because it seems like a beta windows. For God sake. It is full of bugs. Pc freezing, usb unrecognized, unavailable fingerprint. Why Microsoft created it? Windows 10 is superior. This windows 11 is a kind of joke.

    0 comments No comments
  4. Anonymous
    2022-12-20T21:17:21+00:00

    I faced the same issue after upgrading to Windows 11 from Windows 11. The issue is due to drivers. Try updating your biometric drivers and that should fix the issue. You can head to your device's manufacturer's website and update the driver. Updating or reinstalling the biometric driver should help fix the issue for you. However, if you are still facing it then you can follow our guide to fix Fingerprint not working in Windows 11.

    0 comments No comments
  5. Anonymous
    2022-12-15T22:50:05+00:00

    This happened to my Lenovo Yoga in the past week.

    Disabling and reenabling the biometric device (Synaptics UWP WBDI) worked.

    0 comments No comments