How to Change Account Lockout Duration in Windows 11

Why Account Lockout Matters

Account lockout matters because it’s a security feature that stops people from guessing your password too many times to get into your computer.

Understanding Account Lockout Settings

Understanding account lockout settings helps you protect your computer by knowing how many wrong password tries are allowed and how long an account stays locked.

Account lockout threshold: This refers to the number of times someone can enter an incorrect password before their account gets locked. You can set this between 1 and 999 attempts, or use 0 to prevent accounts from locking automatically.

Account lockout duration: This is how long an account stays locked in minutes before it unlocks itself. An administrator can also unlock it manually.

Reset account lockout counter after: This sets how many minutes must pass after a failed login attempt before the count of incorrect attempts goes back to zero.

Allow Administrator account lockout: This option determines if the main Administrator account can also be locked out.

Default Settings in 🪟 Windows 11

In Windows 11 build 22528 and newer, the default settings are:

• Account lockout threshold: 10 failed attempts
• Account lockout duration: 10 minutes
• Allow Administrator account lockout: Enabled
• Reset account lockout counter after: 10 minutes

⚠️ Admin Required: You must be signed in as an administrator to change these settings.

Important Notes

Be aware that a hacker might try to lock out all accounts in your organization by repeatedly entering wrong passwords on various accounts.

Option 1Using Local Security Policy

You can change the account lockout duration using the Local Security Policy tool if you have Windows Pro, Enterprise, or Education editions.

1. Open Local Security Policy. Type secpol.msc in 🔍 the search box and press Enter.
2. In the left pane, double-click Account Policies to expand it, then click Account Lockout Policy.
3. In the right pane, double-click Account lockout duration to open it.
4. Type a number between 0 and 99999 minutes. This is how long the account stays locked. Click OK.

   • 0 = The account stays locked until an admin unlocks it
   • 10 = The default setting
5. If Account lockout duration is lower than Reset account lockout counter after, you will see suggested values. Click OK to accept them.
6. If you want, you can also change the Account lockout threshold, Allow Administrator account lockout, and Reset account lockout counter after settings.
7. Close Local Security Policy when done.

Important: Account lockout threshold must be enabled first. Account lockout duration must be greater than or equal to Reset account lockout counter after.

Option 2Using Windows Terminal

Changing the account lockout duration is possible using Windows Terminal, which you’ll need to open as an administrator for this method.

1. Right-click the ⊞ Start menu and select Terminal (Admin), or search for Windows Terminal and run it as admin. Choose either Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt.
2. Copy and paste this command, then press Enter to see your current lockout duration:
   net accounts
   

   Look for the line that says “Lockout duration (minutes)”.
3. Type this command and press Enter:
   net accounts /lockoutduration:<number>
   

   Replace <number> with a value between 0 and 99999 minutes. For example:

   net accounts /lockoutduration:10
4. If you want, you can also change other settings using these commands:

   • Account lockout threshold: net accounts /lockoutthreshold:<number>
   • Reset account lockout counter: net accounts /lockoutwindow:<number>
5. Close Windows Terminal when done.

Important: Account lockout threshold must be enabled first. Lockout duration must be greater than or equal to Lockout observation window.

Summary

You can change how long a Windows 11 account stays locked after too many failed login attempts using either Local Security Policy or Windows Terminal.

References

Account Lockout Policy – Windows 10 – Describes the Account Lockout Policy settings and links to information about each policy setting.

Account lockout duration – Windows 10 – Describes the best practices, location, values, and security considerations for the Account lockout duration security policy setting.