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

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

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 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

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)

3. In Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1, click/tap on Accounts on the left side. (see screenshot below)

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)

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

5. Click/tap on Choose a picture. (see screenshot below)

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)

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.

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)

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.

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.

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)

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

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)

3. In Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1, click/tap on Accounts on the left side. (see screenshot below)

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)

3. In Windows 8.1 or Windows RT 8.1, click/tap on Accounts on the left side. (see screenshot below)

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)