You type your PIN like every other morning, and Windows 11 refuses it — or worse, the box is gone and the screen reads “Your PIN is no longer available.” It’s unsettling, but it’s almost never a sign that you’re locked out for good. The PIN is a local credential stored on the device through Windows Hello, separate from your account password. When it breaks, the account is still fine; only that one stored credential is the problem.
The way out is always the same shape: get in with your password first, then rebuild the PIN. Most of the time a reset from Settings does it. When the stored credential is genuinely corrupted, you clear it out and create a fresh one. This guide goes from the quickest fix to the deeper one, in the order you should try them.
What “PIN is no longer available” actually means
The error sounds dramatic, but it’s specific. Windows Hello keeps your PIN credential in a protected folder called Ngc. When Windows can’t read that credential — because the folder got corrupted, a TPM setting changed, or an update disrupted it — it shows one of a few messages and falls back to asking for your password.
Common PIN errors and what's behind them
| Your PIN is no longer available | Hello credential (Ngc) can't be read |
|---|---|
| Something went wrong, try again later | Temporary Hello or TPM hiccup |
| PIN entry box missing entirely | Hello provider failed to load |
| PIN accepted before update, rejected after | Update or TPM/Secure Boot change |
The common thread: it’s the stored credential that’s broken, not your identity. That’s why the fixes all involve rebuilding the PIN rather than recovering it.
Step 1: Sign in with your password
Before anything else, get into Windows.
- On the lock screen, click Sign-in options (below the PIN box).
- Choose the password icon (a key).
- Enter your Microsoft account or local account password.
If you’re in, skip to resetting the PIN below.
Step 2: Reset the PIN from Settings
Once you’re signed in with your password, the built-in reset is the cleanest fix and works for the majority of cases.
- Open Settings → Accounts → Sign-in options.
- Expand PIN (Windows Hello).
- Click I forgot my PIN.
- Verify your identity (your Microsoft account password, and an MFA prompt if you have it set up).
- Enter a new PIN.
If that goes through, you’re done — sign out and confirm the new PIN works.
A useful variation when the reset itself errors out: instead of “I forgot my PIN,” click Remove to delete the PIN entirely, then Set up a PIN to add a fresh one. Removing and re-adding clears more state than a straight reset and often succeeds where the reset stalls.
Step 3: Clear the Ngc folder and rebuild the PIN
When Settings won’t reset or remove the PIN — the buttons error out, or Hello insists the PIN is unavailable even after signing in with your password — the stored credential is corrupted and needs clearing manually. You delete the contents of the Ngc folder, which forces Windows to rebuild a clean credential when you set up the PIN again.
The folder lives here:
C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local\Microsoft\NgcIt’s protected, so you need to take ownership before you can empty it. From an elevated Command Prompt or PowerShell (Run as administrator):
# Take ownership of the Ngc folder and its contents
takeown /f "C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Ngc" /r /d y
# Grant your account full control
icacls "C:\Windows\ServiceProfiles\LocalService\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Ngc" /grant administrators:F /tNow open that folder in File Explorer (enable Hidden items under the View menu, since AppData is hidden) and delete everything inside it.
Reboot. After signing in with your password, go back to Settings → Accounts → Sign-in options → PIN (Windows Hello) → Set up a PIN and create a new one. Because the old credential is gone, Windows builds a fresh one and the error clears.
Step 4: Check Windows Hello and the TPM
If the PIN keeps breaking — fine after a rebuild, then broken again days later — the cause is usually deeper than a single corrupted file. The TPM (Trusted Platform Module) underpins Windows Hello, and a flaky or misconfigured TPM makes the PIN unreliable.
When the PIN won't stay fixed
- Run tpm.msc and confirm the TPM is present, ready, and version 2.0
- Update Windows fully — Hello fixes often ship in cumulative updates
- Update chipset and security/TPM firmware from the PC maker's support site
- Check Device Manager > Security devices for a working Trusted Platform Module
- If you recently changed Secure Boot or TPM in firmware, that can trigger PIN resets
As a last-resort reset of the whole Hello state, you can clear the TPM — but only with care. Clearing the TPM also invalidates other things tied to it, so understand the consequences first.
A quick recovery checklist
When you’re staring at a rejected PIN, this is the short version:
- Sign in with your password via Sign-in options.
- Reset the PIN in Settings → Accounts → Sign-in options → “I forgot my PIN.”
- If that fails, Remove the PIN and add it again from the same screen.
- If Settings still won’t cooperate, clear the Ngc folder contents and set up a fresh PIN.
- If it keeps recurring, check the TPM and update firmware.
You almost never get past step 2 or 3. The Ngc and TPM steps are for the stubborn cases where the stored credential or the hardware backing it is genuinely broken.
Wrapping up
A PIN that stops working looks like a lockout but rarely is one. The PIN is just a device-local credential — sign in with your password, reset the PIN from Settings, and you’re usually back in business in a minute. When the credential is truly corrupted, clearing the Ngc folder and recreating the PIN rebuilds it cleanly, and persistent failures point at the TPM or a pending update rather than your account. Keep your account password (and your BitLocker key) accessible, and a broken PIN stays a minor annoyance instead of a real problem.
