I have 2 PC's. Both run Windows 10. Both had different passwords. Somehow, the password on the one PC was changed to match the password on the other PC. Now they both have the same password. I never changed anything, and no one else has access to either PC. Anybody have any idea what might have happened? Thanks!
In Windows 10 there's an option to sync settings i.e. Account passwords, between other Win 10 computers.
Windows 10 does not sync local user account's password between different computers. Never. That is not even remotely possible.
Microsoft account's password is also not synced between the machines per se, it is synced with the MS account settings online, being always the same on every PC than that set by user when the MS account was created, or what it was changed to later on in MS account settings at account.microsoft.com/privacy:
The only (absolutely only!) scenario this could happen is that PC 1 was using a local account, PC 2 an MS account, then user either accidentally or on purpose switches the PC 1 local user account to same MS user account he / she is using on PC 2. In this case it would only be natural that the password on PC 1 changes, from the password of the earlier local account to that of the selected MS account. An MS account password is always, without an exception, the password of selected email address.
The switch from a Windows 10 local user account to an MS account can happen accidentally for instance when the user installs something from the Store or opts in to Insider builds without properly reading the dialogs and prompts presented. To avoid this there's a certain procedure user must follow to use the Windows Store, opt in to Insider builds and other stuff that requires an MS account even when signing in to Windows with a local account.
The procedure is explained in this tutorial: Store - Use when Signing in to Windows 10 with Local Account - Windows 10 Forums
Kari
Last edited by Kari; 24 Jun 2016 at 08:24. Reason: Typos
Problem solved. I somehow changed the login procedure on one PC to 'password' login from 'PIN' login. I was entering the PIN when it wanted the password (which happens to be the same for both PC's). Thanks very much for all the responses.
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