How to Find Out Your Microsoft Password (And What to Do If You Can't)

If you're locked out of your Microsoft account — or simply can't remember your password — you're not alone. Microsoft accounts gate access to Windows login, Outlook, OneDrive, Xbox, Microsoft 365, and more, so losing access can feel urgent. Here's what you actually need to know.

The Truth: Microsoft Cannot Show You Your Password

This is the most important thing to understand first. No legitimate service — including Microsoft — can retrieve and show you your existing password. Passwords are stored as encrypted hashes, not readable text. Even Microsoft's own engineers cannot look up what your password is.

So if you're searching for a way to find your password, the real answer is: you can't find it, but you can reset it, and that process is straightforward once you know which type of account you're dealing with.

Step One: Identify Which Type of Microsoft Account You Have

Not all Microsoft accounts work the same way, and the recovery process differs depending on your setup.

Knowing which type you have determines everything about how to proceed.

How to Reset a Microsoft Account Password (Online Account)

If your account is tied to an email address and is used to sign in to Microsoft services online, the reset process goes through Microsoft's account recovery system.

General steps:

1. Go to account.microsoft.com and click Sign In
2. Enter your email address and select Forgot password
3. Microsoft will offer verification options — typically a code sent to a recovery email or phone number you previously registered
4. Enter the code, then create a new password

🔑 The key variable here is whether you have access to a recovery email address or phone number linked to your account. If you set these up when you created the account, recovery is usually quick. If you didn't, Microsoft offers an account recovery form where you provide information to verify your identity — but this process can take days and isn't guaranteed to succeed.

How to Reset a Local Windows Account Password

If your account is a local account — one that exists only on your PC without a Microsoft email login — the reset options are tied to your Windows version and what you set up in advance.

Windows 10 and 11 options:

• Security questions: If you set up security questions during account creation, you can answer them at the login screen to reset your password
• PIN recovery: If you use a PIN to sign in, you may be able to reset it through your Microsoft account if they're linked
• Another admin account: A second administrator account on the same device can reset passwords for other local accounts via Settings > Accounts

The version of Windows you're running and whether you configured recovery options ahead of time significantly affects which of these routes is available to you.

Work or School Accounts: A Different Process Entirely

If your Microsoft account ends in a company or university domain, and it was given to you by an employer or institution, you don't own that account — the organisation does.

In this case:

• Your IT department or system administrator controls password resets
• Some organisations enable self-service password reset (SSPR) through Microsoft Entra ID, allowing you to reset your own password via a registered phone or authenticator app
• Others require you to contact the helpdesk directly

Attempting to bypass this through Microsoft's standard consumer account recovery won't work — that system won't recognise a managed organisational account.

What About Saved Passwords in Windows or Browsers? 🔍

Sometimes the password you're looking for is already saved somewhere on your device.

Windows Credential Manager stores some Microsoft-related credentials locally:

• Open the Start menu, search for Credential Manager
• Select Windows Credentials
• Look for entries related to Microsoft or your account email

However, Credential Manager shows saved credentials for apps and network connections — it won't display your Microsoft account login password in plain text.

Browser-saved passwords (Chrome, Edge, Firefox) may have your Microsoft account password stored if you logged in through a browser and saved it. In Microsoft Edge specifically, saved passwords are accessible under edge://settings/passwords.

The Variables That Determine How This Goes

Whether password recovery is quick and painless or slow and uncertain depends on several factors specific to your situation:

• Whether you have a recovery email or phone number registered — the single biggest factor
• Whether you're on a personal, local, or organisational account — each follows a completely different recovery path
• How long ago the account was created — older accounts may have outdated recovery info
• Whether you've previously set up the Microsoft Authenticator app — which can serve as a verification method
• Which version of Windows you're running — recovery options for local accounts changed between Windows 10 and 11

Each of these variables shifts which tools are available to you and how long recovery might take. Someone with a linked recovery phone and a personal Microsoft account can usually regain access in under five minutes. Someone with an old account, no recovery info, and an IT-managed organisation account is in a genuinely different situation requiring a different approach entirely.