W 11 requires password change every 6 weeks ???

I log onto my recently installed and fully updated W11 laptop with a password.

And I want to keep it that way.

I don't want to use fingerprint, or pin, or facial recognition, or anything else.

Yesterday I got a message saying I will have to change my password in 3 days.

WHAT ?????

WHY ??????

And who gave W 11 the permission to require me to change my pw every so often?

I have 5 bank accounts, 6 cards, 3 utilities suppliers .. all in all maybe over 30 such things, let alone web sites I visit.

Imagine if they all did THAT !!!

In fact, even some cursory research about this, reveals that it makes no one any safer, and in fact, makes users statistically worse off.

.. and just when I though I had sorted out, and worked around most of the boondoggle W 11 nightmares and shortcoming, there's another one.

Please, can anyone tell me of a simple way to stop this? I just want to keep the pw I have, for as long as I like.

Yes, I did search it, but most of the results were going to some PowerShell Admin think (whatever that is) and playing around with lines of code, etc, and in fact, related to W 10.

Any help by tomorrow would be appreciated,

and BTW, WHAT HAPPENS IF I DON'T ? WILL W 11 SHUT ME OFF MY OWN COMPUTER ???

THEN WHAT ???

See if doing the below solves the problem.

1. Please press Windows key + R and type lusrmgr.msc then hit enter

Please double click the Users Folder under Name

Double click your user name and under General Tab, tick the box next to " Password never expires" then hit Apply and OK

I am interested to know the results on this.

@jp1746, just beware that some online sites for registered account holders do require the account holders to, on certain occasions or intervals, to change their passwords.  I really hope por cielo that the computer operating system never requires this.

JP, if Buddy's advice doesn't work then do this for me:

1) Head over to Windows Settings -> Accounts -> Your Info. Under "Account settings", does it say Local or Microsoft account? If its the former then proceed to step 2.

2) In a Command Prompt window, issue the command net accounts. What does it say for "Maximum password age (days)"?

Depending on what you discover, I may be able to give you a simple command to turn password expiration off.

replace UserNameHere with your account name and run it in admin powershell 

There is multiple more methods and more detailed discussion here if you can't get it right away.  

https://www.elevenforum.com/t/enable-or-disable-password-expiration-in-windows-11.10277/

Edited by 2022computerissues, 19 December 2025 - 01:22 PM.

Hi all. Thanks for the informative replies.

I haven't yet tried anything, because ..

Today IS the third day, in which W11 gave me 3 days to change my pw.

I was wondering what would happen if I did nothing.

When I opened my computer this morning, it had gone from 'you must change your password' to 'you should change your pw' and now, it has given me another 4 days. And I've logged out and back in several times today, and NO further such messages.

WTF are these people doing? 

Gone from DEMANDING to NAGGING to nothing? 

Just another reason to hate / mistrust this boondoggle thing called 'an improvement' by Windows.

I'll keep in touch and let y'all know if anything changes in the future.

Cheers

JP

It will force you to make a new password when the time comes, if you don't disable it by then.  

How do I know?  I had it happen to me. 

How do I know the powershell script works?  I had the same problem.  I disabled password expiration.  It never happened to me again. 

I'm glad I've been a Linux user for over a decade!

Never, in all those years, have I ever been nagged by my OS that I MUST do so-and-so.....or else. And I agree with one of the other respondents; yes, online services WILL periodically ask for a password reset.....but this is more often than not in cases where the user hasn't logged-in to an a/c for several months.

The assumption is that the user is running Windows, and of course, Windows is targeted by the the majority of bad actors.....who are also running the same OS.. That's just good house-keeping. Regularly active users will be "known" to the system, whereas rare visitors are more likely to be challenged to prove their ID.....just to be on the safe side. The sites are merely displaying common sense in this respect.

My bank would be happy if I kept the same password for ever, but here I will change it every 6 months or so for my OWN "peace of mind".

Mike.

@jp1746 it is no use blaming Windows - it is either you, or a bad actor / glitch, that has set password expiry ON - the default is for Windows log-in password never to expire.

@jp1746 it is no use blaming Windows - it is either you, or a bad actor / glitch, that has set password expiry ON - the default is for Windows log-in password never to expire.

Hi GeoffK

I'm not doubting that - but no other contributor has said that so far. But I wouldn't think a bad actor, as I'm probably the safest most boring user I know.

A glitch? Maybe .. I've recently started using Brave as my default browser, after c couple of decades of Firefox. No disrespect to FF, but I'm loving Brave.

If glitch, could it be related?

@Mike Walsh .. agree with you on LInux, entirely. A decade ago I too was using LInux on my main computer and couldn't be happier. But that computer eventually died and I did the lazy thing of jut going with Windows on the new one .. AND THEN THE PROBEMS FOLLOWED, SURE AS NIGHT FOLLOWS DAY !!!

I'm going to convert my secondary computer back to Linux, but I haven't started yet, because I'm possessed by this thought .." why don't I just do it on my main computer and leave the old one on W11"  .. and that is scaring me off doing anything. 

Anyhow, will report again on the pw change thing.

This morning, it nagged me again "consider changing your password, you password expires in 3 days"  ... and I'm wondering, what happens in I don't and it's serious .. will it LOCK ME OUT OF MY OWN COMPUTER ???

Cheers

JP

Don't worry - it won't lock you out - it just keeps nagging - until you either set a new one, or you correct the "glitch" and reset it to the default of no expiry.

Worth doing a DISM and SFC scan, just to check that there are no system corruptions.

Edited by GeoffK, 20 December 2025 - 06:41 PM.

Hi GeoffK I'm not doubting that - but no other contributor has said that so far.

 

Geoff is correct - what you're getting is not normal behaviour for a Windows Home local account. You may have brought this upon yourself if you've been fiddling with third-party system tweakers that have the capability to change that policy. This is however normal behaviour for work accounts. I don't know because you never answered my questions. If it is a work account then you shouldn't run any commands to change the policy because bad things may happen.
 

 

Hi GeoffK I'm not doubting that - but no other contributor has said that so far.

 

Geoff is correct - what you're getting is not normal behaviour for a Windows Home local account. You may have brought this upon yourself if you've been fiddling with third-party system tweakers that have the capability to change that policy. This is however normal behaviour for work accounts. I don't know because you never answered my questions. If it is a work account then you shouldn't run any commands to change the policy because bad things may happen.
 

 

I don't even know what a 3rd party system tweaker is, let alone fiddle with one.

This is not a work computer- I don't work, I'm retired. - it's my home computer. 

BTW, could the following be relevant?

When I started re-using this computer, after a re-install of W11 (by a computer technician due to a complete failure), I did not select logging in with facial recognition, fingerprint, pin, or any of the others (if there were others - can't recall). I went with password as it was the least invasive, and the one that did NOT require me to surrender multiple private details about me to MS, or to jump thru other multiple hoops the other methods involved.

Could they be hating on me for that?

PS, I've been logging into Windows with a password for over a decade .. no problem .. until this 'improvement' ...

This is getting to be quiet redundant. Suggest you attempt fixes that have been 

recommended and the sooner the better. 

JP, stop blaming Microsoft for your woes and listen to Buddy.

Something or someone enabled that policy on your computer. If it wasn't you then it may have been the computer technician who setup your computer.