If you have suddenly found it more difficult to log into Windows 11, you should know that you are not alone. Microsoft has just confirmed that a recent update had the unwanted side effect of hiding the password sign-in option from the lock screen.
This was not something that all users of Windows 11 will have been affected by as there are various factors to consider. Nonetheless, this is a worrying problem that has caused a good deal of confusion and is still yet to be resolved.
The offending update is the KB5064081 update – a preview version of an update – which was released back at the end of August. The fact that it is a preview update means that only a sub-set of Windows 11 users will have installed the problematic update, but that is not all.
Writing about the problem in the Known Issue section of the release notes for the KB5064081 update, Microsoft says:
After installing the August 2025 non-security preview update (KB5064081) or later updates, you might notice that the password icon is not visible in the sign-in options on the lock screen. If you hover over the space where the icon should appear, you’ll see that the password button is still available. Select this placeholder to open the password text box and enter your password. After entering your password, you can sign in normally.
As well as only affecting those who installed the preview update, it is worth noting that the password icon is only something that is displayed when multiple sign-in options are enabled on a particular device – such as password, PIN and fingerprint, for example.
The fact that the icon was only hidden and not completely absent is something that means anyone wanting to use their password was not left locked out of their computer, but in terms of user experience it is not something that reflects well on Microsoft.
The company says that it has not yet produced a fix, nor has it given any indication of quite when it will appear. Thankfully a workaround in the traditional sense is not really needed as the password icon can be made visible by simply hovering the mouse over its usual location.
But, once again, this calls into question quality control at Microsoft. It would be easy to suggest that issues like this are the very reasons for having preview versions of updates so that problems can be ironed out, but it remains surprising that so many bugs seem to keep slipping through the cracks.
