Forum Discussion
Unable to Enter a PIN or Password on the Windows 11 Lock Screen
After powering on or waking the computer, the lock screen appears. The keyboard works normally for entering other text, but there is no response when entering the PIN or password, making it impossible to unlock the device and access the desktop. The only way to resolve this is to force a restart.
1 Reply
Hi, since the keyboard works elsewhere but not on the lock screen, I would check the sign-in UI and credential provider side rather than assuming the keyboard itself is bad.
Try the on-screen keyboard from the accessibility icon on the lock screen. If that works, update keyboard/touchpad/chipset drivers after signing in. If neither physical nor on-screen input works, boot into Windows Recovery Environment and try Startup Repair or Safe Mode.
Once you get in, remove and recreate the Windows Hello PIN, install pending Windows updates, and check Event Viewer for sign-in or credential provider errors. If this happens mainly after sleep/wake, also update BIOS/firmware and disable Fast Startup as a test.
