"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
    2023-01-09T19:21:11+00:00

    This is absurd, hundreds of people experiencing this crappy situation and not a single reply from Microsoft.

    For the people that "fixed" this, did you really fix it? Or do you still get the error every time you try to boot your computer?

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-01-10T02:10:04+00:00

    No it get fixed

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-01-10T03:21:39+00:00

    That's not a very helpful reply. Your English isn't great unfortunately so that doesn't help. Maybe you shouldn't reply.

    Giacorri. I haven't seen it happen again so if it was a bad update then unfortunately I don't know which one it was.

    Two possible solutions were to leave it untouched for two hours and only then type in your pin. I cannot confirm or deny if this solution works.

    The other solution was to reset the TPM2 settings in your BIOS and see if this resolved the issue. Again, I can't confirm or deny this solution either Sorry mate. I hope you get it sorted. Or just do what I did and reset Windows completely. Worst resolution ever in my opinion.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-01-11T12:05:48+00:00

    I woke up today to this happening on my desktop PC. Extra fun is the fact that it says to wait for 0 seconds and thinks the wifi isn't working (it is, I'm on my work MacBook via wifi right now) so I cannot use "I forgot my pin". System restore doesn't help, startup repair doesn't help. Attempting to go through Startup Settings and boot into safe mode just shows the same login prompt in a lower-res screen. Safe mode with networking doesn't work as it still thinks wifi is off.

    So now I'm using the media creation tool on my personal laptop so I can reinstall.

    EDIT: I figured out the networking problem. I have a Pi-Hole running in Docker on a NAS. I just changed the DNS on my network to bypass that. I was able to change my pin, log into Windows and change it back.

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-01-14T19:08:54+00:00

    I have the same exact problem

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