PIN reset - Windows Security (2024)

This article describes how Microsoft PIN reset service enables your users to recover a forgotten Windows Hello for Business PIN, and how to configure it.

Overview

Windows Hello for Business provides the capability for users to reset forgotten PINs. There are two forms of PIN reset:

• Destructive PIN reset: the user's existing PIN and underlying credentials, including any keys or certificates added to their Windows Hello container, are deleted from the client and a new sign in key and PIN are provisioned. Destructive PIN reset is the default option, and doesn't require configuration
• Non-destructive PIN reset: the user's Windows Hello for Business container and keys are preserved, but the user's PIN that they use to authorize key usage is changed. For nondestructive PIN reset, you must deploy the Microsoft PIN reset service and configure your clients' policy to enable the PIN recovery feature

How nondestructive PIN reset works

Requirements:

• Hybrid or cloud-only Windows Hello for Business deployments
• Windows Enterprise, Education and Pro editions. There's no licensing requirement for this feature

When nondestructive PIN reset is enabled on a client, a 256-bit AES key is generated locally. The key is added to a user's Windows Hello for Business container and keys as the PIN reset protector. This PIN reset protector is encrypted using a public key retrieved from the Microsoft PIN reset service and then stored on the client for later use during PIN reset. After a user initiates a PIN reset, completes authentication and multifactor authentication to Microsoft Entra ID, the encrypted PIN reset protector is sent to the Microsoft PIN reset service, decrypted, and returned to the client. The decrypted PIN reset protector is used to change the PIN used to authorize Windows Hello for Business keys, and it's then cleared from memory.

Using Group Policy, Microsoft Intune or a compatible MDM solution, you can configure Windows devices to securely use the Microsoft PIN reset service, which enables users to reset their forgotten PIN without requiring re-enrollment.

The following table compares destructive and nondestructive PIN reset:

Enable the Microsoft PIN Reset Service in your Microsoft Entra tenant

Before you can use nondestructive PIN reset, you must register two applications in your Microsoft Entra tenant:

• Microsoft Pin Reset Service Production
• Microsoft Pin Reset Client Production

To register the applications, follow these steps:

Confirm that the two PIN Reset service principals are registered in your tenant

1. Sign in to the Microsoft Entra Manager admin center
2. Select Microsoft Entra ID > Applications > Enterprise applications
3. Search by application name "Microsoft PIN" and verify that both Microsoft Pin Reset Service Production and Microsoft Pin Reset Client Production are in the list

Enable PIN recovery on the clients

To enable PIN recovery on the clients, you can use:

• Microsoft Intune/MDM
• Group policy

The following instructions provide details how to configure your devices. Select the option that best suits your needs.

GET https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/organization?$select=id

Confirm that PIN Recovery policy is enforced on the devices

The PIN reset configuration can be viewed by running dsregcmd /status from the command line. This state can be found under the output in the user state section as the CanReset line item. If CanReset reports as DestructiveOnly, then only destructive PIN reset is enabled. If CanReset reports DestructiveAndNonDestructive, then nondestructive PIN reset is enabled.

Sample User state Output for Destructive PIN Reset

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+| User State |+----------------------------------------------------------------------+ NgcSet : YES NgcKeyId : {FA0DB076-A5D7-4844-82D8-50A2FB42EC7B} CanReset : DestructiveOnly WorkplaceJoined : NO WamDefaultSet : YES WamDefaultAuthority : organizations WamDefaultId : https://login.microsoft.com WamDefaultGUID : { B16898C6-A148-4967-9171-64D755DA8520 } (AzureAd)+----------------------------------------------------------------------+

Sample User state Output for Non-Destructive PIN Reset

+----------------------------------------------------------------------+| User State |+----------------------------------------------------------------------+ NgcSet : YES NgcKeyId : {FA0DB076-A5D7-4844-82D8-50A2FB42EC7B} CanReset : DestructiveAndNonDestructive WorkplaceJoined : NO WamDefaultSet : YES WamDefaultAuthority : organizations WamDefaultId : https://login.microsoft.com WamDefaultGUID : { B16898C6-A148-4967-9171-64D755DA8520 } (AzureAd)+----------------------------------------------------------------------+

Configure allowed URLs for federated identity providers on Microsoft Entra joined devices

Applies to: Microsoft Entra joined devices

PIN reset on Microsoft Entra joined devices uses a flow called web sign-in to authenticate users in the lock screen. Web sign-in only allows navigation to specific domains. If web sign-in attempts to navigate to a domain that isn't allowed, it displays a page with the error message: We can't open that page right now.
If you have a federated environment and authentication is handled using AD FS or a non-Microsoft identity provider, then you must configure your devices with a policy to allow a list of domains that can be reached during PIN reset flows. When set, it ensures that authentication pages from that identity provider can be used during Microsoft Entra joined PIN reset.

To configure devices with Microsoft Intune, create a Settings catalog policy and use the following settings:

Assign the policy to a group that contains as members the devices or users that you want to configure.

Alternatively, you can configure devices using a custom policy with the Policy CSP.

User experience

Destructive and nondestructive PIN reset scenarios use the same steps for initiating a PIN reset. If users have forgotten their PINs, but have an alternate sign-in method, they can navigate to Sign-in options in Settings and initiate a PIN reset from the PIN options. If users don't have an alternate way to sign into their devices, PIN reset can also be initiated from the Windows lock screen with the PIN credential provider. Users must authenticate and complete multifactor authentication to reset their PIN. After PIN reset is complete, users can sign in using their new PIN.

Reset PIN from Settings

1. Sign-in to Windows 10 using an alternate credential
2. Open Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options
3. Select PIN (Windows Hello) > I forgot my PIN and follow the instructions

Reset PIN from the lock screen

For Microsoft Entra joined devices:

1. If the PIN credential provider isn't selected, expand the Sign-in options link, and select the PIN pad icon
2. Select I forgot my PIN from the PIN credential provider
3. Select an authentication option from the list of presented options. This list is based on the different authentication methods enabled in your tenant (like Password, PIN, Security key)
4. Follow the instructions provided by the provisioning process
5. When finished, unlock your desktop using your newly created PIN

For Microsoft Entra hybrid joined devices:

1. If the PIN credential provider isn't selected, expand the Sign-in options link, and select the PIN pad icon
2. Select I forgot my PIN from the PIN credential provider
3. Enter your password and press enter
4. Follow the instructions provided by the provisioning process
5. When finished, unlock your desktop using your newly created PIN

You may find that PIN reset from Settings only works post sign in. Also, the lock screen PIN reset function doesn't work if you have any matching limitation of self-service password reset from the lock screen. For more information, see Enable Microsoft Entra self-service password reset at the Windows sign-in screen.