Windows 11: Enforcing password resets for local group users

Admins
can
force
users
to
reset
their
respective
passwords
during
their
next
Windows
11
login
by
making
a
few
simple
changes
on
a
difficult-to-find
configuration
screen.

Regardless
of
the
size
of
your
organization,
following

best
practice
security
procedures
are
fundamental
to
your
operation
and
should
never
be
dismissed.
One
of
these
fundamental
security
procedures
is
the
period
resetting
of
a
strong
login

password
—
a
security
task
that
users
are
understandably
reluctant
to
participate
in.

SEE:
Use
this
checklist
from
TechRepublic
Premium
to

secure
your
Windows
11
systems.

In

Windows
11,
administrators
of
local
user
accounts
can
force
members
to
reset
their
respective
passwords
on
their
next
login
by
making
a
simple
change
on
a
specific
configuration
screen.
Navigating
to
this
screen
requires
a
few
steps
and
may
involve
a
less-than-intuitive
flip
of
more
than
one
switch,
but
doing
so
will
force
you
users
to
reset
their
Windows
11
login
passwords.

Force
users
in
a
local
group
to
reset
their
passwords
in
Windows
11

For
better
or
worse,
Microsoft
has
decided
to
make
navigating
to
the
correct
configuration
screen
for
this
process
much
more
difficult
than
it
should
be.
For
example,
you
cannot
reach
the
proper
setting
through
Settings,
and
typing
“user
control”
into
the
Windows
11
desktop
search
box
will
not
reveal
the
proper
settings
area
either.
Instead,
we
must
rely
on
an
old,
but
useful,
configuration
wizard.

To
open
the
configuration
tool,
press
the
keyboard
combination
of
Windows
Key
+
R,
and
type
“netplwiz”
into
the
command
text
box.
This
will
open
the
User
Accounts
control
panel
(Figure
A).

Figure
A

Click
the
Advanced
tab
in
the
User
Accounts
pop-up,
and
then,
click
the
Advanced
button
under
the
Advanced
user
management
section
(Figure
B).

Figure
B

Clicking
the
Advanced
button
reveals
the
Local
Users
and
Groups
manager
(Figure
C).
Click
on
the
Users
folder
to
reveal
the
list
of
local
users.
This
screen
is
where
we
will
make
our
settings
changes
to
force
users
to
reset
their
passwords.

Figure
C

Right
click
a
username
from
the
list,
and
select
Properties
from
the
dropdown
context
menu,
which
will
open
the
Properties
screen
for
that
specific
user
(Figure
D).
We
are
interested
in
the
set
of
checkboxes
at
the
bottom
of
this
screen.

Figure
D

We
want
to
place
a
check
in
the
first
checkbox,
which
is
labeled
User
must
change
password
at
next
logon.
But,
in
many
cases,
that
setting
may
be
grayed
out
and
unavailable.
To
make
it
available,
first
uncheck
the
box
labeled
Password
never
expires.

When
the
change
to
settings
is
complete,
click
Apply
and
then
OK
to
finish
the
process.
Perform
this
task
on
other
users
from
the
list
as
you
see
fit,
and
when
you
have
finished,
you
can
exit
both
the
Local
Users
and
Groups
manager
and
the
User
Accounts
control
panel.

Now,
the
next
time
a
user
logs
in
to
Windows,
they
will
be
asked
to
reset
their
password
following
the
standard
rules
for
password
creation.

There
are
other
methods
for
forcing
individuals
to
reset
their
Windows
11
login
passwords,
which
involve
administrative
tools
found
in
Azure.
These
tools
are
designed
for
organizations
with
more
than
a
few
users
and
require
more
in-depth
tutorials.