Your PIN Is No Longer Available in Windows 11? | 5 Way to Fix It
According to user reports, the “Windows 11 your PIN is no longer available” error often occurs after installing a security update. If your operating system fails to recognize your current pin, you will receive the error. Moreover, other factors like bad Windows security updates, conflicting PIN data in the NGC folder, and system file corruption are also responsible for the error.
Fix 1. Sign in with Your Microsoft Account
The first and simplest fix to the error is to use your Microsoft account instead of the PIN to complete the sign-in process. Here’s how to do that:
Step 1. Start your Windows 11 PC, and then click on Sign-in Options on the log-in screen. Then all the log-in options will be visible.
Step 2. Click on the Password icon if applicable and then you should notice that the text in the box changes from PIN to Password. Now, you can enter the password related to your MS account.
Step 6. Add the PIN that you want to use and click on OK to save the change.
Now, you can restart your computer and check if the “your PIN is no longer available Windows 11” error gets resolved.
Fix 2. Undo the Recent Changes from Advanced Options
If you find the “Windows 11 your PIN is no longer available” error just occurs after you installed the pending security updates, you can try undoing these changes from Advanced options. For that:
Step 1. Once you get the sign-in screen that shows the error, hold the Power icon and press the Shift key while you click on Restart. This will force your Windows 11 system to boot into the Recovery menu.
Step 2. Select the Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Uninstall Updates options in order.
Step 3. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the Windows latest updates.
Step 4. Once uninstalled, exit the Advanced options menu and let your computer boot normally.
Fix 3. Perform a Startup Repair
In addition, the corrupted boot data can prevent your system from signing into the PIN you previously built. So, we recommend you perform a startup repair that can fix some common system issues.
Step 1. Force starts your computer into the Recovery menu like Step 1 in Fix 2.
Step 2. Inside the Recovery menu, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Repair. Then follow the on-screen prompts to complete the startup repair.
Step 3. After the repair is complete, restart your PC normally and check if the “your PIN is no longer available in Windows 11” error is fixed.
Fix 4. Delete NGC Folder in Safe Mode
Sometimes the “your PIN is no longer available Windows 11” error could occur due to the conflicting data inside the NGC folder. It is used for storing information related to the sign-in options currently set up on your PC. The folder includes PIN, password, and other types of sign-in options.
To clear the NGC folder, follow the steps below.
Step 1. Force starts your computer into the Recovery menu and selects Troubleshoot > Advanced options.
C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local\Microsoft
Step 6. Once deleted, restart your PC normally and see if you can sign into without having to insert a PIN.
After that, you can also set a new PIN like Steps 3–6 in Fix 1.
Fix 5. Reset Your PC
If you still receive the “Windows 11 your PIN is no longer available” error after trying all the above solutions, you may consider resetting Windows 11 and keeping personal files. To do so, follow the steps below:
Step 1. Boot your computer into the Recovery menu just by following the steps we explain above.
Step 2. Select Troubleshoot > Reset this PC from the listed options.
Step 4. Once done, your PC should restart normally and ask you to set up a New PIN next time you boot up.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Position: Columnist
Ariel is an enthusiastic IT columnist focusing on partition management, data recovery, and Windows issues. She has helped users fix various problems like PS4 corrupted disk, unexpected store exception error, the green screen of death error, etc. If you are searching for methods to optimize your storage device and restore lost data from different storage devices, then Ariel can provide reliable solutions for these issues.
Originally published at https://www.partitionwizard.com on January 10, 2022.
