Today we will edit the registry to set the PIN expiry time on Windows 10. This will force users to change their PIN code from 1 to 730 days.
The PIN in Windows 10 is a verification code for your login to you. It consists of numbers that should be at least 4 digits. The PIN sets each user individually for himself and there is no limit on how many digits he / she can put by Microsoft.
Inside the capabilities of the PIN routine is to be able to set when it expires and therefore when you force the user to change their PIN. Of course this has little application to a home computer, but it serves the security concerns of a company administrator.
In some of the earlier versions of Windows 10, the PIN expiry setting was not available. Microsoft has now added this feature to the newer versions.
How to set the PIN expiry in Windows 10
The PIN expiration on Windows 10 is off by default. You can activate it using the steps below.
1. Because you will mess up the registry, make a backup first that, for any eventuality. For instructions click this link.
2. Press Win + R at the same time, and in the "Run" window, type regedit. Click OK to open the Registry Editor.
3. In the registry editor and in the left pane, go to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Policies \ Microsoft
4. Right-click the “Microsoft” registry key, select Create> New> Key. Name the newly created subkey as PassportForWork . Similarly, create the registry subkey PINComplexity under PassportForWork. If these registry keys already exist, skip generating new keys.
Now, in the right window of the PINComplexity registry key (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Policies \ Microsoft \ PassportForWork \ PINComplexity), right-click and select Create> DWORD Value (32 bit). Name the new registry string as expiration. Double-click the string to modify the value data:
5. Set the Decimal Base first, and then enter any value between 1 and 730 that will be the number of days that the PIN will expire. In this example, we set 60 as the value data, so the PIN will expire in 60 days. Click OK, turn off Registry Editor, and restart your computer to enable the changes.
Local Group Policy Setup: The same arrangements can be made through the local political group. Open the Local Group Policy Editor (Win + R and type qpedit.msc).
There, go to Computer Configuration> Administration Templates> System> PIN Complexity and double-click "Finish" in the right pane. Set it to "On" and enter the number of days you want. You can set from 1 to 730 days.
