Picture Password - Create, Change, or Remove in Windows 8

How to Create, Change, or Remove a Picture Password in Windows 8 and 8.1

information   Information
A picture password is a new way to help protect your Windows 8 computer or touchscreen PC. You can choose to use any picture, and the three gestures you use with the picture, to create a strong unique password for your user account in Windows 8.

This tutorial will show you how to create, change, or remove a picture password for your user account in Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.

Note   Note

  • This will not work if your PC is part of a domain. Picture passwords only work for workgroups.
  • After creating a picture password, you will need to perform the three gestures you setup below on the picture to be able to sign in to your user account in Windows 8.
  • On the sign in screen, you will have an option to Switch to password to be able to enter you user account's password instead of using the picture password.
  • If you used Switch to password, you will still be able to click/tap on the Sign-in options link to select the picture password icon icon.jpg to sign in with the picture password instead.
  • If you use the picture password and you know you did something wrong while trying to sign in, you can press the Start Over button and start again. If you don’t get the gestures right five times in a row, Windows 8 will automatically switch back to the alphanumeric password option.
  • With the alphanumeric password option, you are reminded with your password hit and the password reset option after the first attempt to sign in. After five attempts, you will have to wait for a while (about 30 seconds or longer) before the next attempt. This deliberate delay is a Windows security feature that is designed to help prevent hackers from continuing to try and guess your user name and password.

The image you select for your picture password is stored in the hidden PicturePassword folder location below as the Cloud.jpg and Local.jpg files.

C:\Users\(user-name)\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\PicturePassword


EXAMPLE: Picture Password on Sign in Screen

Example-picture.jpg
Example-password.jpg





OPTION ONE

To "Create a Picture Password" for your Windows 8 User Account


NOTE: It is required that you have already created a password for your user account first to be able to create a picture password.

1. Open PC settings, and do step 2 or 3 below for what Windows 8 you have.

2. In Windows 8 or Windows RT, click/tap on Users in the left pane, click/tap on Create a picture password in the right pane, and go to step 4 below. (see screenshot below)
Step1.jpg

3. In Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1, click/tap on Accounts on the left side. (see screenshot below)
PC_settings.jpg
A) Click/tap on Sign-in options on the left side, click/tap on Add under Picture password on the right, and go to step 4 below. (see screenshot below)​
Add_Picture_Password-1.jpg

4. Type in your user account's password, and press Enter or click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)
Add_Picture_Password-2.jpg

5. Click/tap on Choose a picture. (see screenshot below)
Add_Picture_Password-3.jpg

6. Navigate to and select the folder that contains the picture that you want to use, select the image by clicking/tapping on it, then click/tap on the Open button at the bottom right corner. (see screenshot below)
Add_Picture_Password-4.jpg

Tip   Tip
How to Navigate:

A) Click/tap on Files (Windows 8) or This PC (Windows 8.1) to open a root folder to have it's subfolders open in the main window.

B) Click/tap on a folder in the main window to open it's subfolders in the main window.

C) During this, you can click/tap on Go up to go up one folder level in the main window.

Files.jpgWindows_8.1_Navigate.jpg

Go-Up.jpg



7. If you like the selected picture, then click/tap on Use this picture and continue on to step 8. If not, then click/tap on Choose new picture and repeat step 6. (see screenshot below)
Step5.jpg

8. From here, you will need to draw three gestures on the picture one at a time. You can use any combination of circles, straight lines, and taps/clicks. The size, position, and direction of your gestures -- and the order in which you make them become part of your picture password. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: If you make a mistake while drawing your gestures, then you can click/tap on the Start Over button.
Add_Picture_Password-6.jpg

9. When finished drawing the three gestures, you will now have to repeat them again exactly one by one again to confirm them. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: If you make a mistake while drawing your gestures, then you can click/tap on the Start Over button.
Add_Picture_Password-7.jpg

10. If something didn't successfully go right with confirming your gestures, then click/tap on Try again and repeat step 9. (see screenshot below)
Add_Picture_Password-8.jpg

11. When successfully finished, click/tap on Finish. Your picture password has now been created. (see screenshot below)
Step8.jpg

Note   Note
If you get an "Enrollment Failure" error, then you will need to set the Credential Manager service to be Automatic and started (running). Afterwards, start the tutorial over to try creating your picture password again.

How to Start, Stop, and Disable Services in Windows 8



12. If you like, you could now close PC settings.






OPTION TWO

To "Change Picture Password" for your Windows 8 User Account



1. Open PC settings, and do step 2 or 3 below for what Windows 8 you have.

2. In Windows 8 or Windows RT, click/tap on Users in the left pane, click/tap on Change picture password in the right pane, and go to step 4 below. (see screenshot below)
Change-1.jpg

3. In Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1, click/tap on Accounts on the left side. (see screenshot below)
PC_settings.jpg
A) Click/tap on Sign-in options on the left side, click/tap on Change under Picture password on the right, and go to step 4 below. (see screenshot below)​
Windows_8.1_Change_Picture_Password-1.jpg

4. Type in your user account's password, and press Enter or click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)
Windows_8.1_Change_Picture_Password-2.jpg

5. From here, you can select to Use this picture or to Choose a different picture. (see screenshot below)
Windows_8.1_Change_Picture_Password-3.jpg

6. When finished selecting a picture to use, you can now repeat steps 7 to 12 in OPTION ONE above to draw 3 gestures for the selected picture.






OPTION THREE

To "Remove Picture Password" from your Windows 8 User Account



1. Open PC settings, and do step 2 or 3 below for what Windows 8 you have.

2. In Windows 8 or Windows RT, click/tap on Users in the left pane, then click/tap on Remove to the right of Change picture password in the right pane. (see screenshot below)
Change-1.jpg

3. In Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1, click/tap on Accounts on the left side. (see screenshot below)
PC_settings.jpg
A) Click/tap on Sign-in options on the left side, click/tap on Remove under Picture password on the right, and go to step 4 below. (see screenshot below)​
Windows_8.1_Remove_Picture_Password.jpg

4. The picture password for your user account has now been removed.

5. If you like, you could now close PC settings.


That's it,
Shawn


 

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Last edited:
Hi Brink

When I try creating a picture password, the box is greyed out

Screenshot (174).png

Is there a way to fix this?

Thanks

aar407
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Hewlett-Packard
    Memory
    6GB (2+4)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel HD 4000
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    2 (1x 1TB and 1x 20GB - Recovery)
    Keyboard
    UK Layout
    Mouse
    Touchpad
    Internet Speed
    60mb (originally 30mb) (VIRGIN MEDIA)
Hello aar407,

Restart the PC to see if it may just be a glitch, and you will hopefully be able to afterwards.

If not, then run a sfc /scannow command to see if it finds and can repair any corrupted or modified system files that may be responsible. Afterwards, see how it works.

Hope this helps, :)
Shawn
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    64-bit Windows 10
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self built
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K OC'd to 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G7 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    OCZ Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gb/s Download and 35 Mb/s Upload
    Browser
    Internet Explorer 11
    Antivirus
    Malwarebyte Anti-Malware Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
I think he might have the same problem I had experience . Picture password enrollment failure
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 professional x64 + WMC
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 5920
    CPU
    Core 2 duo T5550
    Motherboard
    ACER CHAPALA
    Memory
    4GB DDR2
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel GMA X3100
    Screen Resolution
    1280 X 800
    Hard Drives
    160 GB HDD
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