How to change the password of a Windows user account from the command prompt

Thanks to Windows’ net user command, you can change your PC user account passwords directly from the command prompt window. This allows you to set a new password for your chosen account without navigating through any settings menus. We’ll show you how.

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What to know when changing passwords from the command prompt

the net user The command requires administrator access, which means you must use an administrator account to use the command. You can then use it to change the passwords for your own account and the accounts of others.

Also note that this command only allows you to change the password of your local account. If you use a Microsoft account with your PC, you’ll need to use another method to change your password.

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Use the net user command to change the password of a Windows account

If you are ready to change the password, first open the “Start” menu. In this menu, look for “Command Prompt”. Then on the right select “Run as administrator”.

In the command prompt window, type the following command and press Enter. In this command, replace USERNAME with the username whose password you want to change and PASSWORD with the new password you want to use.

net user USERNAME PASSWORD

Not sure who’s who on your system? You can get a list of all user accounts by using the following command at a command prompt:

net user

If your username has spaces, be sure to enclose it in double quotes. Like:

net user "Mahesh Makvana" MYPASSWORD

Are you doing these password changes in a public place? People around you (or watching through security cameras) could see your password as you type it. In this case, use the following command.

be sure to replace USERNAME in the command with the username whose password you want to update.

net user USERNAME *

You will be prompted to enter the new password twice, but you will not see any text on the screen. The command prompt will then display a success message indicating that your password has been changed successfully.

And that’s it.

When you now log in to your account on your Windows PC, it will use the newly created password. Enjoy!

Want to learn some other useful Windows commands? Take a look at our dedicated guide.

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