"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
    2025-05-23T08:13:15+00:00

    "StartFragmentWhat worked for me, is first entering my PIN after which "This sign-in option is disabled" pops up and then waiting the two hours after which it let me log in with my PIN. KEEP IN MIND that when waiting the two hours you HAVE to keep the screen from going into sleep mode/turning off or else the timer will reset, you can do this by pressing keys while waiting. (I just kept my left hand on my laptop pressing random keys every 10-ish seconds) after 2 hours the prompt to enter in a pin should be there again and you should be able to login as long as you didn't reset the timer. EndFragment"

    Yes, this is exactly what I did too, confirms my suspicion that it is a Microsoft Authentication problem like the expired domain cached login token problem.

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-05-23T05:53:20+00:00

    After 2 days of being locked out of my laptop I'm finally typing this on my laptop. There are many ways to fix this problem including the use of the recovery environment or resetting your pin using "forgot PIN" but for me I couldn't get into recovery environment or reset my PIN.

    What worked for me, is first entering my PIN after which "This sign-in option is disabled" pops up and then waiting the two hours after which it let me log in with my PIN. KEEP IN MIND that when waiting the two hours you HAVE to keep the screen from going into sleep mode/turning off or else the timer will reset, you can do this by pressing keys while waiting. (I just kept my left hand on my laptop pressing random keys every 10-ish seconds) after 2 hours the prompt to enter in a pin should be there again and you should be able to login as long as you didn't reset the timer. If this worked for you and you're in, you should do as another user said, (sorry I couldn't find your original reply but thank you) and go to Settings, Sign-in options, scroll down to additional settings and turn off "only allow Windows Hello sign-in for Microsoft accounts on this device" this should let you enter your password when logging into your computer so you don't have to use your PIN. Hopefully this works as well as it did for me for others, good luck.

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-05-22T05:26:54+00:00

    David, why do you constantly cry user incompetence? Clearly people In this thread KNOW their PIN it's the fact that nobody can actually USE it that's the problem. And yet you give out pointless solutions assuming everyone just has a spare computer lying around or like Nick said, can go back in time and make measures to workaround this mistake of a "feature" as it's clear anything it was made for isn't worth the all the inconvenience that made half a million people go to this thread for.

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  4. Anonymous
    2025-05-20T10:17:43+00:00

    The probleem is you users not computer, i see some say cant remember pin or password, lol, , you ms account is on a web page and can manage it from any pc on the web site, Microsoft, but this would be to difficult for many, no solution for that, mabey a mac, even if a key on keyboard broke you all still blame Microsoft, hilarious, why is my pin not working, well i wonder, have you tried to log into your Microsoft account from another computer, da

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  5. Anonymous
    2025-05-20T05:44:36+00:00

    It has been 3hours & more, but its still locked zzzz

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