Windows update makes sign-in password icon invisible — Microsoft says you can still click on empty space to enter your password

Microsoft has admitted that the non-security preview update KB5064081 has an issue that will make it a bit harder to log into your computer using your password. According to Microsoft Support, one of the known issues in this update is that the “Password icon might be missing or invisible in the lock screen sign-in options.” While the button might have disappeared, you can still sign in with a password by clicking on the empty space where the button should be, and the password field will appear.

Insider channel users caught this bug before it went mainstream

This isn’t a critical security or performance issue, especially as it only impacts the Windows user interface. Furthermore, it’s part of a preview update, meaning users in the preview channel should be the only ones affected. It’s nonetheless annoying to those users, especially if you forgot your PIN for Windows Hello and you now can’t quite figure out how to type in your password. Microsoft said that it’s already “working to resolve this issue and will provide information when it’s available.”

Windows Updates are meant to fix security issues, bugs, and release new features, but if you’re tinkering with a complicated operating system such as Windows 11, you’re bound to break something else if you aren’t careful. In fact, Microsoft released an emergency patch last month after an update prevented users from using the keyboard and mouse when in the Windows Recovery Environment.

In the same month, the company also broke the Media Creation Tool just a day before Windows 10 end-of-life, which might prevent some users from updating their system to Windows 11. Even other companies need to deal with Windows Updates shenanigans. For example, Nvidia released an emergency driver update in the latter part of November after a Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2 update significantly reduced performance in some games. This hotfix resulted in 50% performance increase for affected titles, giving many frustrated gamers a reason to rejoice.

Thankfully, Microsoft has several Windows Insider channels where most bugs are caught before they’re rolled out to the average user. These should catch most of the biggest bugs that Microsoft’s engineering and programming teams might have missed, but even then, a few issues sometimes slip through the cracks and get a wider release.

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