Windows – How to sign in with a password instead of a pin

Check this article on how to set your default sign-in option in Windows 10 using a registry tweak.

1. Press the Windows + R keys together, and then type regedit and hit Enter to access Registry Editor.

2. Navigate to the registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\UserTile

3. Find your current account's SID on the right pane, and double-click on it to modify.

4. Type {D6886603-9D2F-4EB2-B667-1971041FA96B} in the Value data field and click OK.

5. Reboot your computer and it will display PIN as your default sign-in option on the logon screen.

GUID for each sign-in option:

• PIN: {D6886603-9D2F-4EB2-B667-1971041FA96B}
• Picture Logon: {2135F72A-90B5-4ED3-A7F1-8BB705AC276A}
• Password: {60B78E88-EAD8-445C-9CFD-0B87F74EA6CD}
• Fingerprint Logon: {BEC09223-B018-416D-A0AC-523971B639F5}

If you don't actually mind not using a PIN, you can set the password complexity to a minimum setting and put the pin in there.

To do this, Open gpedit.msc and browse to the following section: Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Account Policies > Password Policies. Here you can disable Password must meet complexity requirements after which you can have a password with just a space if you wanted to.

Of course, you can also set a blank password, which means no password at all.

Do note, these settigs will be greyed out if your computer is part of a domain. In that case, the domain controller will need to set the password requirements, but I doubt the pc's in question are part of a domain.

Changing settings regarding to PIN should also be possible based on policies, but with the limited time I currently have, I know of this setting, but couldn't find one for PIN related settings.