[FIX] Windows 10 2004 forgets passwords after every restart
Windows 10 2004 was released in May 2020 this year. This was the first update of the year in accordance with the servicing model of Windows, with the second one due this month. Although the servicing team quashes a lot of bugs with every update, there are some bugs that are left and are being investigated. In this article, I discuss one of those which is Windows 10 2004 forget passwords at every login, and how to fix the same. With this issue, the user must enter the credentials every time at startup, which includes a web browser, outlook, Network drives, VPNs etc.
Background of Windows 10 2004 password forgetting issue
The reports of the same started with the version 2004 release, where the users started reporting(1,2,3) that after updating, this windows 10 2004 forget passwords issue arose. Windows Latest reports that the bug is due to a Data Protection apps API, which is used by Desktop apps to fill the credentials to an app or website. This is a core component of Windows, hence every Windows app can be affected by this issue.
A workaround which may help
Resolve Windows 10 forgets password issue in version 2004
To resolve Windows 10 2004 forgetting passwords at every reboot, follow the steps below:
- In the accounts section, convert your Microsoft Account to a Local Account.
- Restart your computer.
- Sign in to the Microsoft Account again in the Accounts section.
Applies To : Windows 10
As of now, Microsoft hasn’t officially provided a workaround, other than rolling back to 1903/09. Fortunately, there is a fix that works for most of the users.
- First of all, go to Start menu. From there go to Settings>Accounts. Under your info, click “Sign in with a local account instead”. If asked, confirm it.
- Restart your computer.
- Go to Settings>Accounts and convert the local account back to the Microsoft Account again.
FIX 2
Also, for browsers, there is an existing Bug filed in the chromium tracker for a similar issue. An engineer has claimed that the browser issue is due to a scheduled task using S4U API. To check if you are affected by the same bug, follow below:
- Right-click Start>Windows Powershell(admin). Copy and paste below command
- Get-ScheduledTask | foreach { If (([xml](Export-ScheduledTask -TaskName $_.TaskName -TaskPath $_.TaskPath)).GetElementsByTagName(“LogonType”).’#text’ -eq “S4U”) { $_.TaskName } }
- If you see a program name, note it down, for example, HP Print software. (If you do not see a name, this fix does not apply)
- Open Task scheduler by searching it in the Start menu and disable the related tasks of the programs you have noted down before.
Microsoft on the issue
Microsoft has confirmed that they are investigating this issue. They have made a collection for it, which you can add your comment in. The link is here. No ETA for the fix is mentioned by Microsoft, so it may take some time to correct this. For sure, the Patch would come through Patch Tuesday.