"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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  2. Anonymous
    2023-07-29T00:36:14+00:00

    If you use a Microsoft online account to sign in to Windows, and you have enabled PIN sign-in (which is confusingly considered to be part of "Windows Hello"), then you will NOT be given the option to sign in using a password, and clicking the "I Forgot My PIN" link will do NOTHING.

    If you do manage to finally get signed back into your PC, there is a critical setting you must DISABLE to prevent this awful situation from ever happening again. Microsoft, in their infinite wisdom, stupidly ENABLES the setting by default.

    Settings >> Accounts >> Sign-In Options:

    "For improved security, only allow Windows Hello sign-in for Microsoft accounts on this device (Recommended)"

    You must DISABLE that setting! Then the next time this happens, the login screen will actually give you the option to sign in using your password.

    Also, this is clearly caused by the PC suddenly losing power while in hibernate. Windows somehow wrongly detects that situation as an incorrect PIN being entered too many times. This is a Windows bug that desperately needs to be fixed. And Windows lock/login should not stupidly suggest using an alternate sign-in method when the setting described above is ENABLED. And that setting should also not stupidly default to ON when enabling a PIN on a Microsoft account. Multiple layers of epic failure here... which might have been caught via manual QA testing, if Microsoft hadn't laid off all their testers years ago.

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-07-28T21:32:32+00:00

    yes , we know how to find this on google , by typing forgot windows password,

    , but you did not have to do that, you just have to click forgot password , and it give you option to log in with your password instead of then pin, , but if you did forget the password then you need to change it in command prompt hack on google.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-07-28T21:24:13+00:00

    I just did it the long way then lol

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-07-28T21:23:20+00:00

    I honestly just hacked the machine and I really don’t care I just wanted my computer back but I basically just booted it up in safe mode with cod then navigated to system32 copied cmd.exe to sethc.exe then overided sethc.exe then rebooted after that pressed shift 7 times then I was in cmd after that I changed pin useing cmd and I was in

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