Once you’ve finished with this article, only you will be able to manage the passwords on your system. As such, let’s explore how to stop users from changing passwords on Windows.
Why Should You Prevent Users From Changing the Windows Passwords?
Before we dive deeper into how you can stop other users from changing your password, let’s first understand why you would want to prevent them from doing so. There are many reasons why you may not want other users accessing or changing your password.
Suppose you’re sharing your computer with your friends or family. If you give them the ability to change the passwords on your Windows computer, they might use this power to lock you out of the system. They may change the password you set for their account to deny you access, or even change your own password so you can’t get into your profile.
Now that you know why you need to prevent users from changing your Windows password, let’s talk about how you can stop them.
How to Prevent Users From Changing Windows Passwords
If you want to stop users from changing Windows passwords, you can do so via Group Policy Editor, Registry Editor, or the Computer Management tool. Here is a detailed explanation for each of them.
1. How to Use Group Policy Settings to Prevent Users From Changing Windows Passwords
There are a few methods that can be used to prevent users from changing their Windows passwords. One is to use the Local Group Policy editor.
However, if you’re using Windows Home edition, the Local Group Policy editor won’t be available by default. In such a case, you should first activate the Group Policy Editor in Windows Home before continuing.
Here are the steps you need to follow to prevent others from changing your Windows password:
Open the Run command dialog box. Type “gpedit. msc” in the text field and press the OK button to open the Local Group Policy Editor. Navigate to the following path: User Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Ctrl+Alt+Del Options Choose Ctrl+Alt+Del Options from the left, then double-click the Remove Change Password on the right. When the dialog box appears, select the Enabled radio button. Click Apply and OK when you’re finished making your changes. In order to see the changes take effect, you will need to restart your computer.
After you restart your computer, it’s time to check if the password change option is disabled. Press the Ctrl + Alt + Del key combination and double-check that you can’t see the “Change Password” button on the “Security” dialog box.
Do note that performing these steps won’t stop Windows from asking users to create a new password when necessary. If a password expires or an administrator needs to change the password, the system will still prompt the user to set up a new one.
2. How to Modify the Registry to Prevent Users From Changing Windows Passwords
Another method to prevent users from changing their Windows passwords is to use the Registry Editor. However, you must take care not to accidentally mess up the Windows Registry in the process. You could seriously damage your device if you edit the wrong keys. Therefore, you should always back up the Registry before modifying any of its settings.
Here’s how to prevent Windows users from changing passwords via the Registry Editor:
Press Win + R to open the Run Command dialog box. Type “regedit” in the search field and click OK. A UAC window will appear on the screen; click Yes to confirm your action. When the Registry Editor is opened, navigate to the following location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies If the Policies key does not exist, you will have to create it. To do this, right-click CurrentVersion and select New > Key. Put the name Policies in the file name field and hit Enter to save it. Now in the right pane, right-click on empty space and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name the DWORD key as DisableChangePassword and then press Enter. Double-click on the newly created DWORD key to open a pop-up window. Select the Hexadecimal base and set the value data to 1. Now click OK to save the changes.
Once you’ve made these changes, close the Registry window and restart your computer. If you ever want to revert the changes, you can do so at any time. In the Registry Editor, right-click the DisableChangePassword key and choose Modify. Set the Value data to 0 and hit the OK button to apply the changes.
3. How to Prevent Users from Changing Windows Passwords Using Computer Management
If you’re using Windows Home edition and don’t know much about editing the registry, you may want to try the Computer Management path instead. Here’s how you can use the Computer Management tool to prevent users from changing Windows passwords.
Right-click on the Start menu and select Computer Management from the menu list. Once you open the Computer Management tool, navigate to the following path: Computer Management (Local) > System Tools > Local Users and Groups > Users From the left pane, click on the Users folder to see your Windows accounts listed in the middle pane. Now, right-click on the account you want to prevent from changing your Windows password, then choose Properties from the context menu. In the Properties window, you will be on the General tab. Then check the box next to User cannot change password. Next, click Apply > OK to save your changes.
After you perform the above changes, no one else will be able to change the password. Any attempt to change it will result in an error message stating “Windows cannot change the password”.
Your Windows Password Is Now Protected
Changing the Windows password is quite easy when someone else has access to your computer or if you share it with them. However, you wouldn’t want your operating system modified in a way that would make it difficult for you to use it at all. To resolve this issue, try any of the methods explained in this article.
