Windows 10 Picture Password – Add, Change or Remove

Windows 10 allows you to configure a Picture Password. It is an additional security protection for your user account. The idea behind this feature is to show tap or and draw some pattern over a picture on the sign-in screen with the mouse pointer or your finger (if you have a touchscreen). Let's see how to set up Picture Password in Windows 10.

To configure Picture Password in Windows 10, you need to choose a picture and specify three gestures, which should be distinct enough from each other. You can use the mouse pointer or the touch screen to drawn on the picture. The pattern can include various shapes like lines, dots, circles and so on.

Before you continue, you need to set a password for your user account. If you are using a Microsoft account, then you already have a password. This is a limitation of the Microsoft account. It cannot be used without a password. In case of a local account, the password can be blank. If you want to use the Picture Password feature for an account which has no password protection, you need to set a password first.

To set Picture Password in Windows 10, you need to do the following.

1. Open Settings.
2. Go to Accounts -> Sign-in options.
3. On the right, go to the Picture password section and click the Add button.
4. You will be prompted to enter your current password.
5. Once you enter the password, you can watch a tutorial provided with the default image. The default image can also be used to create a new picture password. You can load your own image using the button Choose picture in the left pane.
6. You can adjust the position of the picture you loaded by dragging it to a new location.
   Then, click the button Use this picture on the left.
7. The left pane will show a small tutorial on how to draw gestures. Draw the first gesture on the image you loaded.
8. Repeat this step for the second and third gesture. If you do a mistake, click the Start over button on the left.
9. Once you finish all the gestures, you will be asked to repeat them. Repeat the gestures you specified to confirm them, and you are done.
10. Click on the Finish button to close the Picture password page and add your picture password to the sign-in options.

Now, sign out from your Windows 10 session and try to use your new picture password. The login screen will look as follows:

You can still use an alternative sign-in option like Password, Fingerprint or PIN. Click the 'Sign-on options' link to switch between them:

Note: The Picture password feature is not available when your computer is joined to a domain or if Windows has started in Safe Mode.

To change or remove Picture Password in Windows 10, open the page Settings Accounts -> Sign-in options.
There, click the appropriate button under the Picture Password button to remove it and you are done.

That's it.

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