krzysiek
krzysiek Author of itreset.github.io, a site dedicated to IT issues: virtualization, network configuration. This is a public notebook of instructions and problems encountered by the author of the blog.

Resetting a Forgotten Ubuntu Linux Password on WSL

Resetting a Forgotten Ubuntu Linux Password on WSL

Forgot your Ubuntu account password in WSL?

No need to reinstall the distribution — just run a few quick commands in Windows PowerShell. —

Open Windows PowerShell

Use the shortcut Win + X, select i, and press Enter.

Log in as root

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wsl --user root

Change the password

For the current user (root):

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passwd

For another user:

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passwd username

💬 The system will ask you to enter the new password twice — and you’re all set!

Manage multiple WSL distributions

List the installed distributions:

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wsl -l

Log in to a specific distribution (for example, Ubuntu 20.04):

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wsl -d Ubuntu-20.04 --user root

💡 Tip: You don’t need Windows admin privileges to reset a WSL password!

Simplify your workflow and recover access to Ubuntu in seconds 🚀