"This sign-in option is disabled because of failed sign-in attempts or repeated shutdowns". I've been locked out of my laptop since last night and can't log back in. How do I fix this issue?

Reported
Anonymous
2022-01-28T09:51:54+00:00

So randomly last night (about 12 hours ago) my laptop with Windows 11 shows the above error message when I input my pin.

"This sign-in option is disabled because of failed sign-in attempts or repeated shutdowns. Use a different sign-in option, or keep your device powered on for at least 2 hours and then try again".

Prior to this, I used my laptop normally and everything was fine. I did not put in the pin several times and certainly not repeatedly shut down my laptop, so I'm not sure where this even comes from.

From what I understand, my only chances to log back in my laptop are to:

  1. Wait 2 hours WHILE the laptop is powered on.
  2. Use a different sign-in option (use password - and I have no idea what this password is lol).

I can't do solution 1 because my laptop powers down after like 30 seconds, so I cannot keep it powered on for 2 hours unless I press a button on my laptop every 29 seconds for 2 hours.

For solution 2, the different sign in method asks me to put in a password, not sure which password this is. It can't be the password that I use to log in to my Microsoft account online because it says that's incorrect.

Now, following from solution 2, I get the option to reset this password, by answering 3 memorable questions, but here too at least 1 of memorable questions is incorrect.

Can I get back into my laptop without having to factory reset everything?

Does anyone know if the 2 hours wait need to be consecutive?

Thanks all :)

EDIT: It has been 11 months and people still seem to have the same issue as me. Microsoft, please fix this bug / glitch. It's obviously causing a lot of headaches. I was able to simply factory reset my laptop as everything I had was backed up elsewhere, but I'm sure 90% of the people here cannot do this because the laptop still has vital stuff not backed up else where. Even if they could backup, it's a really long and painful process to set the laptop back up.

This really needs to be addressed asap please :)

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

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-08-01T14:13:06+00:00

    Just wanted to add to the 40 pages of replies and over 5600 people who have indicated that this is also a problem for them. Microsoft, PLEASE give us a way to disable this.

    My situation: a Windows 10 NUC that I bring back and forth regularly between two locations -- and have for the past four years. This problem started just a couple of months ago. It is unclear whether rebooting roughly 10 times per week is what now causes the issue or whether the occasional mistyped PIN did. There is ZERO feedback about what metric is used for determining either of the conditions, which one was triggered, or whether there is a way to configure the detection. Interestingly, I see here that some people have been having this problem since at least two years ago, implying it didn't arise from a recent update. It is mystifying how it started becoming a problem for me only recently.

    There also seems to be no effective reset to get back to the PIN-only login I was able to enjoy for the past four years. I can get it with my Microsoft online account password, but that's a 20 character string of random characters that I can't even effectively enter with my password manager, because of course the password manager is not available until after login. Once I log in successfully, it isn't long before I encounter the situation again -- probably on the next login. That's what just happened now, leading me to this thread. I was forced to login with my password about 18 hours ago. The computer stayed up all night, then I shut it down, brought it to my office this morning and AGAIN had to do password login because PIN was disabled.

    I am not saying the feature necessarily needs to go away, but it really needs to at least have better documentation and give us more control over it. And Microsoft really ought to comment on the situation here rather than having 40 pages of people all hunting around for more information about what's going on.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-07-23T15:10:46+00:00

    This solution worked for me:

    Click on <Forgot PIN number> twice then Create new PIN (You may input the same PIN that Microsoft has rejected.

    I think that this is a BUG in Microsoft Windows 11.

    Good Luck!

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-07-15T16:49:39+00:00

    Trust me it's not a bug or glitch. Some "genius" for reasons known only to them thought it was a good idea to insert this bit of code into Windows 11. Must have lost a bet or something.

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-07-01T04:17:21+00:00

    Im having the same issue but I don't even get the option to use a password. Just my fingerprint and pin and both are disabled. My laptop randomly does the "pull down to reboot" and did that while I wasn't even touching it. I HATE THE IDEA of factory resetting and loosing all of my game data but this is about ridiculous and I'm ready to switch to MAC.

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  5. Anonymous
    2024-06-28T22:52:42+00:00

    Was there ever a solution to this issue? Because we have the exact same problem. Out of the blue, we get the same error message:

    "This sign-in option is disabled... because of failed attempts or repeated shutdown.."

    Which isn't true. Our pin is simple: 7771. It's only me and my wife using it. Yet for some reason we are now locked out of it since yesterday. My wife has always absolutely hated MS PC's and promptly went out today and bought a Mac Pro. But i would still like to get into our laptop if possible microsoft!

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