How to Change Account Lockout Threshold in Windows 11

Prerequisites

Standard user accounts cannot change these system-wide security rules. If you sign in with a standard account, the editor may open but you will not be able to save changes. Sign in as an administrator, or approve the User Account Control prompt with an administrator’s credentials.

How to change the Account Lockout Threshold

Changing the account lockout threshold sets how many times someone can type the wrong password before Windows locks the account. The Local Group Policy Editor is the simplest way to do it. Open the Run box by pressing the Win plus R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.

If you see a message that Windows cannot find gpedit.msc, you are most likely on Windows 11 Home. This editor is not available there.

1. Press Win+R to open the Run box, type secpol.msc, and press Enter to open the Local Group Policy Editor. Approve the User Account Control prompt if it appears. A window with a folder tree on the left should open.

2. In the left pane, go to Computer Configuration › Windows Settings⚙️ › Security Settings › Account Policies › Account Lockout Policy. Click Account Lockout Policy once. Three policies should now be listed on the right.
3. Double-click Account lockout threshold. Its properties window opens, with the current value shown (0 by default, which means accounts never lock).

4. Enter a number between 1 and 999 in the box. Setting this to 0 disables the lockout feature entirely. A value of 5 to 10 works well for most people.
5. Click OK to save. If you entered a number above 0, Windows may show a Suggested Value Changes box. It proposes setting the lockout duration and the reset counter to 30 minutes. Click OK to accept, or change those two policies yourself afterwards. You do not normally need to restart. If the new limit does not seem to apply, sign out and back in.

Change the threshold using Windows Terminal

The command line is faster if you are comfortable with it, and it works well when you manage several PCs. It also needs administrator rights. The steps below are for Windows 11 Pro and other editions that support it.

1. Right-click the Start button and select Terminal (Admin). In this guide that means Windows Terminal running as an administrator. Click Yes on the User Account Control prompt. The window title should show that it is running as Administrator.

2. Type the following command and press Enter. The number in the command is the threshold, so change it to the value you want before you run it. The terminal should report that the command completed successfully.

net accounts /lockoutthreshold:<number>

Troubleshooting Locked Accounts

Wait for the account lockout duration to expire, or clear the lock manually. The duration is the period set in the Account lockout duration policy, 30 minutes if you accepted the suggested values. To clear a lock sooner, sign in with another administrator account and follow these steps:

1. Open the Computer Management console.
2. Go to Local Users and Groups › Users.
3. Right-click the affected user and select Properties.
4. Uncheck Account is locked out, then click OK.

Local Users and Groups is not available on Windows 11 Home. Also, if the locked account is the only administrator account on the PC, you will have to wait for the lockout duration to end.

Security Best Practices

A lockout threshold of 5 to 10 attempts combined with a strong password gives the best protection. Too low a number, such as 1 or 2, will lock out real users who mistype. Enable multi-factor authentication whenever it is available.

Disabling the threshold completely leaves your system open to brute-force attacks (automated programs that try thousands of password combinations). To undo any change in this guide, set the threshold back to its previous value, which is 0 by default.

Summary

A lockout threshold gives you a reliable defense against unauthorized login attempts. It takes only a minute to set, and you can change it later if it proves too strict or too lenient.

Consult the official Microsoft documentation for advanced configuration details.