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
    2022-05-06T03:16:06+00:00

    Try disabling and enabling the device. It worked for me...

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-04-20T14:37:06+00:00

    Hi Ricardo,

    I added the key "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" and then click on the plus sign and selecting the options such as "SOFTWARE" and then "Policies" and following, at the end it is necessary to add the DWORD that I indicated.

    Nothing changed, the "This option is not available" to add a finger or change pin etc.

    Any other suggestion? this is a common problem to all Windows 10/11 users, must have affected millions of users.

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-04-20T14:02:30+00:00

    In <Device Manager>, right mouse click on the Biometric driver, a dialogue box should show up to allow for disable, uninstall, or update driver. Cheers.

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-04-20T13:44:54+00:00

    how do you disable the biometric device - I can see how to uninstall it - but can't see how to disable it

    cheers

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-04-18T07:45:12+00:00

    Hi Phil,

    In this key that I put is the answer, it is in "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" and then click on the plus sign and selecting the options such as "SOFTWARE" and then "Policies" and following, at the end it is necessary to add the DWORD that I indicated.

    Although this procedure is simple, I believe that some users feel uncomfortable making changes to the "Registry" and I hope that some of the solutions presented above will work.

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