Using a password for your user account in Windows is a safety measure to keep unwanted people from accessing your computer, files and documents. But if you have a touchscreen device then entering the password again and again can be a painful experience. Fortunately, Windows 8 has a new feature called PIN which is similar to the password but easier to use. The PIN is a four digit number which you set and use instead of the password. You can follow these simple steps to create a PIN for your user account :
- Press the key combination Windows logo key + I to display the Charms bar in the right side of your screen. In the charms bar, click/tap on Change PC Settings which is displayed at the very bottom of the charms bar.
- In the PC Settings screen that opens up, select Users on the left side. Then click/tap on Create a PIN button shown under the Sign-in options. Option to create a PIN appears only if you have set a password for your account. If you have not set a password for your user account, then you can read how to create a password for your user account in Windows 8.
- It would ask you to enter your current password before you proceed. In the next screen that is displayed, you have to enter your new PIN two times. Make sure you do not enter an easy to guess PIN code. Avoid using repeated digits like 1111, 1122 etc. Also avoid easy and obvious codes like 1234, 7890 etc.
- Click/tap on Finish to set the PIN. That’s it, you have successfully created a PIN code for your account. Now you can sign in to Windows 8 using this 4 digit PIN code. Setting a PIN for your account does not disable other ways to sign into Windows. The options to use the text password and picture password would also be available under the sign-in options.