Microsoft says a bug in Windows 11 is hiding the “password” icon, which allows you to log in when you don’t want to use the PIN. Without the password icon, you can’t see the password field. You’ll only need the password field to access the PC when you don’t remember the PIN.

If you have set up Windows Hello, you’ll almost always see PIN with an option to use your fingerprint. If you tap on the ‘show sign-in options,’ it will bring up the ‘password’ icon. Selecting the icon would bring up the password field, which lets you log in. Now, the password icon won’t show up due to a new known issue.

“You might notice that the password icon is not visible in the sign-in options on the lock screen,” Microsoft noted in a support document spotted by Windows Latest. This issue affects all PCs with any of the following updates installed:

• KB5068861 | Build 26200.7171 / 26100.7171 | Released on November 11
• KB5067036 | Builds 26200.7019 / 26100.7019 | Released on October 28
• KB5070773 | Builds 26200.6901 / 26100.6901 | Released on October 20
• KB5066835 | Builds 26200.6899 / 26100.6899 | Released on October 14
• KB5065789 | Build 26100.6725 | Released on September 29
• KB5068221 | Build 26100.6588 | Released on September 22
• KB5065426 | Build 26100.6584 | Released on September 9
• KB5064081 | Build 26100.5074 | Released on August 29

Who is affected?

This issue only affects those who still want to use a password when Windows Hello PIN or other methods are configured.

Microsoft won’t say how many users are affected, but it’s also not saying that a small number of devices would run into the missing “password icon” issue.

“If you hover over the space where the icon should appear, you’ll see that the password button is still available,” Microsoft explained. “Select this placeholder to open the password text box and enter your password. After entering your password, you can sign in normally.”

Microsoft’s workaround for the missing password icon on the Windows 11 login screen is actually funny. The company really wants you to guess where the password icon is… and if you are still unable to find it, try clicking randomly on the lock screen. It’ll trigger the password field… hopefully.

Recent Windows Update issues

Windows 11’s recent updates have been nothing less than a disaster. When the October 2025 Patch Tuesday release dropped, we noticed that it’s no longer possible to use a mouse or keyboard in WinRE (Windows Recovery Environment). Later, an emergency update was released to patch the problems.

But that was not it. We also notice that it’s no longer possible to host apps or websites locally on Windows because Microsoft accidentally broke the LocalHost service. An emergency update was rolled out to patch it. Worse, we also found that Task Manager was accidentally duplicating itself, causing performance issues.

When I thought it was a happy ending for Windows bugs, Nvidia said it found an issue tanking gaming performance on PCs with the October 2025 Update installed. Nvidia issued a hotpatch to address the performance problem. And now, Microsoft has identified the password icon issue.

What about you? Do you also have issues after recent Windows updates? Let us know in the comments below.

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