Something happened and your PIN isn´t available Windows 10/11 Fix Something happened and your PIN isn´t available Windows 10/11 Fix

Something happened and your PIN isn´t available Windows 10/11 Fix

The annoying PIN issue…

This is the only fix I found that works for the “Something happened and your PIN isn´t available” message that appears in the login screen and won’t let you enter lol. In my free time I help my friends and family with their computer issues, and I encountered this issue twice… The first time I couldn’t find a proper fix and just reinstalled Windows. The second time reinstalling Windows wasn’t an option, so after some research and trial and error I found a fix that worked for me and I hope it works for you too. Ok I will stop rambling now and get to the point.

The Fix

  1. Since you can’t log in with your PIN or password, you will need to hold Shift and click on Restart in the login screen.
  2. This will take you to the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE).
  3. In WinRE, go to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt.
  4. In the Command Prompt, type regedit and press Enter.
  5. This will open the Registry Editor.
  6. Go to File > Load Hive.
  7. Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\Config and select the file named SOFTWARE.
  8. Name the hive something like msoftware and click OK.
  9. Now navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\msoftware\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\PasswordLess\Device.
  10. In the right pane, you should see a value named DevicePasswordLessBuildVersion. Then, change its value to 0.
  11. Close the Registry Editor and type exit in the Command Prompt to close it.
  12. Turn off your computer and turn it back on.
  13. In the login screen, you should now be able to log in with your password.
  14. Once logged in, you can go to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options and set up a new PIN. This should fix the issue and allow you to use your PIN again.

Alright, this wasn’t possible without this YouTube video I found, so I will link it here: Your PIN is No Longer Available On Windows 11/10 | How To Fix your pin is no longer available (2024) You can watch it for a visual guide if the steps above are not clear enough.

If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me on my socials or leave a comment below. I hope this helps you out!


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