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

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-05-14T14:54:50+00:00

    This just worked perfectly with my wife's Dell.

    (Disable/enable the sensor)

    She upgraded to Windows 11 last night.

    Thanks for the solution.

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-05-13T07:49:39+00:00

    So, you going through this whole process of setting up a new account and all of a sudden the fingerprint option is back just shows us all that this is a Windows problem, not a device problem, not a driver problem, not a third party problem but a totally in house Microsoft problem. What are they going to do about it?

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-05-13T06:04:11+00:00

    Hello everyone!

    To anyone who's still having this issue, after having tried the following:

    1. Disable/Update/Uninstall/Reinstall Driver
    2. Checking Device Manager > USB for a "warning" sign (didn't have one)
    3. Adding a Registration Key and Enabling Group Policy Settings

    I was just about ready to reinstall windows 11 but I decided to try and create a new user on my laptop, to my surprise the new user had Windows Hello fully functional for fingerprint. So I decided to back up my files on my main account, create a new user account with my secondary email:

    Settings > Accounts > Family & other users > Other users > "Add account"

    After creating my secondary user account, I went to my primary user account and changed the second user account type to Administrator:

    Control Panel > User accounts > Change Account Type > Select your new user > Change account type > Select "Administrator"

    Once both accounts were administrators, I was able to return to my second user account and delete my primary user account (through the control panel) and that was it, problem solved, until the next windows update I guess lol.

    If you want to use your primary email address for your user account you're going to have to do this process again.

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-05-07T04:03:11+00:00

    System Manufacturer SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-05-06T16:24:06+00:00

    I saw many post about "enable/disable" driver, but it is not addressing the issue that in Windows 10/11 Hello option, the ability to update/add fingerprint is not functioning.

    Somewhere along the Windows updates, the "Sign-in Option" is messed up. It no longer allows the user to update/change sign in options. See picture below and do not keep suggesting the enable/disable driver will fix the problem. This is an issue that affects every Windows 10/11 machines that I owned. I am sure I am not the singular case.

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