How To Fix "Windows Needs Your Current Credentials"

Jason Moore

When you get the message “Windows Needs Your Current Credentials”, it can be frustrating. Let me show you how to resolve this notification that Windows gives you.

Logging In With A Pin

This will be the most common reason for this message to appear. It is annoying because Windows often pushes you to set up a pin to make logging in easier. Then the message says to login with your current credentials. I don’t know about you, but this has never worked for me. This is because Windows is not helpful and there are better ways of fixing this.

The first thing to do is change your pin. The reason you need to do this is that your original pin was created using an earlier Windows password. So, anytime you have to change your password, you change your pin too.

Also, if you're in a business environment, make sure and sign out of all computers. For example, if you are assigned multiple devices, then make sure and sign out of all of them when you reset a password or pin.

Virus

A virus or some type of malware that messes with your system can cause this error. Viruses aren’t as common these days as they used to be, but this is something to check. You will want to watch this because these programs run in the background and are not immediately obvious. Run a virus scan to eliminate this being the issue. Also keep Windows Firewall activated as it adds another layer of protection. The free tool from Malwarebytes is good also if you do not have a business tool.

File Corruption

This can also cause issues. If your windows system has been installed for a while, files start slowly corrupting. You will start seeing error messages and other oddities in your system. Run the SFC scan tool to check for file integrity.

Changing Group Policy

There is a local group policy application on Windows computers. You can do a lot with it and it is useful. This is one of those occasions. Follow these steps:

  • Open gpedit and group policy

  • Go to computer configuration > administrative templates > systems > logon

  • Select “Always wait for the network at computer startup and logon”

  • Change to disabled, select apply then ok.

Restart your computer after this and see if that fixes the issue.

Authentication Issues

This is weird, but sometimes you just need to re-verify your account. How you do this will depend on your environment. Home will be different from a business, for example. You can try signing out of all your accounts and then signing back into them.

Another thing you can do is go to settings, account, then verify your account. That has also worked.

Conclusion

This error message is very annoying, but here are several things to try. As i uncover more potential fixes, I will add them to here. In this document, we discussed why this can happen as well as some fixes.

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