Keeping track of your passwords is a hefty task, especially when you have a habit of forgetting things quickly. Luckily, Windows takes care of most of your local accounts, so you may not need to go through the hard way to look up to them.
So, if you are feeling troubled while finding your email passwords in Microsoft Windows, let us help you with step-by-step instructions in similar regards.
Firstly, we will take you through a detailed guide regarding finding passwords stored on your computer in Windows 10. There are specific ways to proceed with the task, and we will learn first about doing that via the credential manager:
Finding Windows passwords via Credential Manager in Windows 10
Open Windows Control Panel.
Tap on User Accounts
Tap on Credential Manager.
You will come across two sections: Web Credentials and Windows Credentials.
Under the tab Web Credentials, you can quickly locate passwords that you have been using for various websites. In the case of Windows Credentials, it will keep track of all the remaining logins on the computer.
Once you have located the account you were looking for, tap on the arrow on the right.
In the drop-down tab, tap 'Show next' to the password.
As you get a pop-up prompt, key in your administrator password and it's done
Even if you don't know the administrator password, you still have a way out. You can access your accounts by sneaking through the command prompt. Refer to the below steps in the same regards.
Accessing the accounts via Command prompt
Type command prompt in the Windows search bar
Tap 'Run as an administrator in the left pane of the window
You may see a user account control window popping up, saying - 'Do you allow the app to make changes on your device?'. Click Yes.
You will now see a Command Prompt window.
Type in this Command in the command prompt window: rundll32.exe keymgr.dll,KRShowKeyMgr
Hit Enter.
You will now witness a pop-up window showing all the Stored User Names and Passwords window.
How to gain access to your administrator password?
To gain access to your administrator password, you'll be required to sneak into the Windows 10 registry. Yet, be extra careful while you do that, as even a single wrong click could bring some severe damage to your computer's operating system. The admin password is stored in Windows 10 registry, and you need to use the command prompt to gain access. Refer to the below steps for more clarification.
Search through Windows Command Prompt.
Type Regedit and hit Enter.
You will see the Registry Editor window popping up
Go to HKEY_ LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Windows NT > CurrentVersion > Winlogon
Once done, scroll down to DefaultPassword and double-click it.
You will now see a window pop up showing the stored password.
The method mentioned above carries many risks as even a slight mistake or wrong click can disrupt or damage the operating system. So, if you prefer not to play with the registry, you can head to the Microsoft recovery page for the same task.
How to find stored passwords in Windows 7?
The procedure mentioned above applies to Windows 10. Yet, even when you are using an older version of windows, like Windows 7, you can access your accounts while going by the following steps.
Head to the Start menu
Tap on the Control Panel
Go to User Accounts.
Tap on the 'Manage your network passwords' option on the left panel
The details regarding your accounts would be available here
The abovementioned procedure helps most of the times. Yet, it may not help much if you have not been able to log in to the computer at all. So, if you have forgotten your password and want to recover your Windows 7 credentials, proceed with the following steps.
How to recover Windows 7 credentials?
While Windows operating system stores your credentials, it's not the only place where you can find them. There are times when a user saves his/her passwords on the web browser. So, if you have done the same, you can quickly check out the credentials while going into the browser settings.
Besides, you can bypass windows password by simply following few easy steps. By doing that, you don't even need to remember or store all those credentials in the first place. Although you may require little to basic technical knowledge for it, you can take a lot of pain out of your daily work that way.
Regardless of what process or methodology you have used to view or access your Windows credentials, be careful at every step. Even a single wrong click can bring some critical damage to the entire operating system.
