"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
    2025-04-04T10:41:39+00:00

    The only long term solution i found was not to use a Microsoft account for logging in, instead use a local user account, once you get back in, many ways to get back in, 1st use forgot pin link below where you type password, next way is to reinstall windows

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-03-26T11:19:39+00:00

    Thank you for your answer. So I guess my next question is how do I download and reinstall Windows 11 when I cannot even get into my computer?

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-03-10T21:56:48+00:00

    ms is fixing this, new added to win 11 beta in the preview channel

    [Notifications]

    • To ensure you never lose access to your Microsoft account, we are introducing a new toast notification that will prompt you to add a secondary email or recovery phone number to your account. This will only appear if you’re signed in to your PC with your Microsoft account and this information is missing from your profile. Adding these account proofs will help you recover your Microsoft account if you ever forget your password or get locked out for any reason.
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  4. Anonymous
    2025-02-16T22:02:47+00:00

    I am currently on the latest 24H2 and it doesnt matter how many times I reset my pin even though I have had to memorize my microsoft account password because otherwise eventually after a day or two this problem resurfaces. It just seems to want to disable pin sign on whenever it feels like it and ultimately forces me to use a microsoft account so I will always have a way around it on another device in case there is a problem or I forgot a local account password which is what happened to me the first time and had to reinstall windows to get around it. So no updating doesnt help, having a local account doesnt help, resetting the pin only works temporarily (very temporarily) and it continues to be an issue. I even at one point started using the photo password feature so id have even extra options but originally I didnt have any sign in options or forgot pin link and was on a local account on 23H2 but now on 24H2 with everything people on here keep assuming should help it simply does not work. I have literally switched to linux again because of this but I kept windows just because there was no other way to play a minecraft bedrock world with all the mods I have collected on there without a windows system. So even moving to linux isnt always foolproof because microsoft needs to stop hijacking and lojacking everyones systems from them seemingly for our own good when all it does is make things worse and more complicated. When a band of online strangers in an open source community can do better that means it doesnt even matter if i got it fixed or fixed for a while because microsoft still needs to know they are screwing up royally.

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  5. Anonymous
    2025-02-04T09:32:24+00:00

    Having the same issue, my computer struggled to turn on then gave me this. But I don't have a secondary account so basically I can't use my own laptop or do any work for 2 hours that's ridiculous. Sounds like the kind of dumb decision Apple would make not Microsoft.

    Suggestion: Hope Microsoft will add a feature where you can sign into your Microsoft account from another device to be able to unlock this 2 hour lock - ideally an email should be sent giving the user an option to unlock their account for use on their device.

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