How to recover a forgotten BIOS password on a Dell desktopīIOS passwords cannot be recovered.

Follow the instructions under the Deleting or changing an existing system setup password section.

Click View PDF or View Page next to the service manual of the Dell computer.

Locate the service manual under the Manuals and Documents section.

Or, click Browse all products to manually select your Dell product from the catalog.

Or, enter the Service Tag, Express Service Code, or the Serial number of the Dell product and click Search.

For more information, see the Dell knowledge base article Dell SupportAssist (formerly Dell System Detect): Overview and Common Questions. Follow the on-screen instructions to install Dell SupportAssist.

Click Download & Install SupportAssist to auto-detect your Dell product.

To reset or clear the password that is set inside the BIOS of a Dell desktop, all-in-one, or laptop: Prevents an unauthorized user from accessing the HDD and booting into the operating system.įor more information about BIOS, how to access the BIOS, and how to update the BIOS to the latest version, see the Dell knowledge base article Dell BIOS Updates.

HDD password - Password that you must enter to allow the BIOS to access the hard drive and continue booting into the operating system.

Prevents an unauthorized user from accessing the BIOS or making changes to the settings in the BIOS.

Setup or Admin password - Password that you must enter to access and make changes to the BIOS settings of the computer.

Without the user password, a user cannot enter the BIOS, access the one time boot menu (F12 menu), or boot into the operating system. Prevents an unauthorized user from using the computer.

System or User password - Password that you must enter to log on to the computer.

There are three types of passwords that can be set up in the BIOS of a computer. The BIOS also contains instructions that the computer uses to perform basic instructions such as date, time, whether to boot from a hard disk drive, USB drive, or the network, and so on. It acts as an interface between the computer's hardware and the operating system. BIOS is firmware that is embedded on a small memory chip on the computer's system board or motherboard. BIOS is an acronym for Basic Input or Output System, also known as system setup.

Bios master password generator