Unlocking a User Account

By default, attempting to use the wrong Windows user account password five times will lock the user account for 30 minutes. It will automatically unlock once the 30 minutes expire. In addition to being a default setting on most Windows servers, it is a PCI-DSS requirement (section 8.5 of the PCI Self-Assessment Questionnaire). This article will go through the process of unlocking a user's account depending on what kind of server you have.

Topics included in this article

• Domain Controlled Server
• Workgroup Server

Domain Controlled Server

1. If you have a Domain Server: Open Administrative Tools > Active Directory Users and Computers and find the appropriate user account. Note: You can search for a user account by right-clicking on the domain name in the left pane and clicking “Find…” 

2. Right-click the appropriate user account and click Properties.

3. Select the Account tab and un-check “Unlock account.” Click OK to apply the changes and exit.

Workgroup Server

1. Open Administrative Tools > Computer Management. 

2. Expand Local Users and Groups on the left pane and select the Users folder. 

3. On the right pane, right-click the appropriate user account and click Properties. 

4. From the General tab, uncheck the box for “Account is locked out.” Click OK to apply changes.

Related articles
 

Changing Windows User Password
Managing Windows Server User Accounts Windows Server 2012 R2 and Below