How to set up Windows Hello facial recognition on Windows 11

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On Windows 11, you can securely sign in without taking anything on the screen using your face with the Windows Hello facial recognition feature.

Windows Hello has been around for a number of years, and it’s a feature that offers several ways to ditch your password in favor of a more secure method of authentication, such as PIN, fingerprint, and face.

Although you can enable and configure the feature on virtually any device, you still need special hardware if you don’t want to use a PIN. For instance, fingerprint authentication requires a fingerprint reader, and the facial recognition option requires an infrared or Intel RealSense camera.

In this guide, you will learn the steps to configure Windows Hello facial recognition using a biometric camera on Windows 11.

Set up facial recognition on Windows 11

To configure Windows Hello facial recognition to unlock a computer with your face, use these steps:

1. Open Settings on Windows 11.

2. Click on Accounts.

3. Click the Sign-in options page on the right side.

4. Under the “Ways to sign in” section, select the Facial recognition (Windows Hello) setting.

5. Click the Set up button.

   

6. Click the Get started button.

   

7. Confirm your current password or PIN to allow Windows 11 to detect it is you.

8. Look directly into the camera for Windows 11 to create a facial recognition profile of your face.

   

9. Click the Close button.

Once you complete the steps, you can lock your device (Windows key + L) and then look into the camera to sign in.

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If the sign-in experience is not working as expected, under the “Facial recognition (Windows Hello)” setting, you will now find an “Improve recognition” option that you can use to keep training the system to better detect your face.

Disable facial recognition on Windows 11

To remove Windows Hello facial recognition to sign in on Windows 11, use these steps:

1. Open Settings.

2. Click on Accounts.

3. Click the Sign-in options page on the right side.

4. Under the “Ways to sign in” section, select the Facial recognition (Windows Hello) setting.

5. Click the Remove button.

   

6. Confirm the account credentials.

7. Click the OK button.

After you complete the steps, you can continue signing in with a traditional password. If you have configured a PIN or fingerprint reader, you’ll need to remove those configurations using the same steps to disable the Windows Hello feature.

Windows Hello facial recognition compatible hardware

Although biometric authentication is widely available, you won’t find it on every device, especially in the budget market. If you want to use facial recognition authentication on Windows 11, you will usually need a premium device. For example, here’s a list of the best laptops with facial recognition cameras:

If you are in the market for a budget device, the Surface Go 3 is affordable and includes Windows Hello facial recognition camera.

In the case that you have a desktop computer, you don’t need to spend a lot of money to experience biometric authentication. You can get the Logitech BRIO webcam featuring a facial recognition camera for around $140.