My new password is not accepted

The flash-drive prompt applies to a local-account password-reset disk created before the lockout; instead, first select Reset password and answer your security questions, or switch to Microsoft-account/PIN recovery if that is the credential you use.

1. Confirm that Windows is asking for the correct credential

On the sign-in screen, select Sign-in options:

• Select the key/password icon to enter the new account password.
• Select the PIN icon if you normally enter a numeric PIN. Your Windows Hello PIN is different from your Microsoft account password, so changing the password does not change the PIN.^1^
• Check the keyboard layout, Caps Lock, and Num Lock before entering it again.

2. If this is a local Windows account

The flash-drive option does not mean that you can connect a new blank drive now. A password-reset disk must have been created previously while signed into that local account.^2^

From the sign-in screen:

1. Enter the password once and select the arrow.
2. After Windows rejects it, select OK.
3. Select Reset password.
4. Answer the security questions created with the account.
5. Enter and confirm another new password.^3^

If Reset password only offers a USB drive and no security questions, the remaining supported local-account option requires another administrator account already configured on this PC:

1. Sign in to that other administrator account.
2. Press Windows key + R.
3. Enter netplwiz and press Enter.
4. Select the locked local account and use the password-reset option.^4^

Warning: An administrator-forced reset can permanently prevent that account from accessing EFS-encrypted files, saved credentials, and personal certificates. Use it only after the normal recovery methods fail and if the necessary files are backed up.

3. If the account uses a Microsoft account

An email address shown as the account name often—but not always—indicates a Microsoft account. Connect the PC to the internet from the Network icon on the sign-in screen, then:

1. Select I forgot my password.
2. Verify your identity using the offered email address or phone number.
3. Set another password and use that password on the Windows sign-in screen.

Alternatively, reset it from another phone or computer using Microsoft’s account recovery page. Sign-in options > Web sign-in is another documented option, but it may not appear on every PC.^5^

If verification codes or recovery methods are unavailable, use Microsoft’s sign-in helper from the password-recovery process.^6^

If none of these options is available

There is no supported method to bypass a lost local-account password. Microsoft Support cannot retrieve or circumvent it.^3^ If there are no security questions, previously created reset disk, or second administrator account, the remaining option is to reset or reinstall Windows. This can remove applications and potentially personal files, so do not proceed until any available recovery or backup options have been exhausted.

References

1. Change or reset your PIN in Windows | Microsoft Support
2. Create a password reset disk for a local account in Windows | Microsoft Support
3. Change or reset your local account password in Windows | Microsoft Support
4. Forget password for log in password window 11 - Microsoft Q&A
5. Change or reset your Microsoft account password in Windows | Microsoft Support
6. Reset a forgotten Microsoft account password | Microsoft Support