How to Enable Password Expiration in Windows 11

How to Enable Password Expiration in Windows 11? If you want to increase your password security in Windows 11, you can set a regular expiration date for passwords. This guide explains how.

Want to keep your Windows 11 PC safe from hackers and unauthorized users? One way to do this is enable password expiration to your account.

Depending on your settings, this feature will force you to change your password every few days or weeks. This will prevent anyone from guessing or cracking your password over time. This will also reduce the risk of your password being leaked in a data breach, as you'll be regularly changing to a new (and hopefully stronger) password.

We'll show you how to turn on password expiration in Windows 11, why you should do it, and how to turn it off if you don't want it below.

Why You Should Enable Password Expiration in Windows 11

Password expiration is a security feature that causes your password to expire after a certain period of time. When your password expires, you will be asked to create a new one the next time you log in.

This can help you improve your PC's security in several ways:

• password expiration helps prevent unauthorized changes to your system settings or personal data by someone who has access to your PC.
• This protects your PC from hackers that can compromise your password, especially if your account is inactive or expired.
• This protects your privacy making your password harder to crack, especially if you use the same password for multiple accounts.

By default, Windows 11 sets a maximum password age of 42 days for local accounts and 72 days for Microsoft accounts.

How to Enable Password Expiration for Local Accounts in Windows 11

If you use a local account on your Windows 11 PC, you can enable password expiration using the Local Users and Groups snap-in management tool.

Please check your user account type before proceeding as you will need administrator privileges to set a password expiration date. If you use a Microsoft account to sign in to your Windows 11 PC, skip to the next section.

To enable password expiration for local Windows 11 accounts:

1. Right-click on the Start menu and select Run (or press the key Windows key + R on your keyboard).
2. At the Run box, type: lusrmgr.msc and click OK to open the Local Users and Groups docking control panel.
3. In Local Users and Groupsselect the Users folder on the left.
4. Then double click on your local user account on the right to set password expiration.
5. At the In general tab, uncheck the box that says Password never expires and click OK.
6. Log out of your account or restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

Your local account password must expire after the specified number of days — 42 days by default.

After the password expires, you will be prompted to set a new password the next time you sign in.

If you use a Microsoft account on your Windows 11 PC, you can enable online password expiration via the Microsoft Security page.

To set a password expiration date for a Microsoft account in Windows 11;

1. Visit the Microsoft security page in your web browser. When prompted, sign in with your Microsoft account details.
2. then click password security under security basics. You may be asked to sign in again at this time.
3. You will need to change your password to enable this feature, so enter your current password and a new password.
4. Check the box that says Make me change my password every 72 days.
5. Click To save to confirm the change.

With this setting enabled, your Microsoft account password will expire every 72 days. As with local users, you will need to create a new password the next time you sign in after the expiration date.

If you don't want to enable password expiration for your account, you can easily disable it using the same methods described above. Just follow these steps:

• For local accountscheck the box that says Password never expires at the Local Users and Groups snap-in.
• For Microsoft accountsuncheck the box that says Make me change my password every 72 days on the Microsoft security page.

Disabling local password expiration using Windows terminal

Alternatively, you can disable password expiration for all local accounts using Windows Terminal or older command prompt tools.

To disable password expiration for local user accounts:

1. Right-click on the Start menu and select Windows Terminal (Administrator) or launch cmd through the Start menu.
2. In Windows Terminal or Command Prompt window, type the following command and press To type:
   wmic UserAccount set PasswordExpires=False
3. After executing this command, restart your PC.

Securing Your Accounts in Windows 11

In fact, Password Expiration is a useful feature that can help you keep your Windows 11 PC safe from unauthorized users and hackers.

By enabling password expiration in Windows 11, you can make it more difficult for others to break into your system.

However, if you're working on a PC without Internet access, you might be tempted to remove your password entirely. However, this still has risks; therefore, you should consider whether better options are available.

For example, you can configure Windows Hello to sign in and use biometrics (such as fingerprint or facial recognition).