Laptop stuck at hp login screen, no buttons on page besides power and accesibility

[Infestiveintent]

So i was trying to look at my school grades when my laptop crashed, saying windows ran into an issue and needs to restart. Now I’m locked on the lock screen of my laptop, when i go to the page to enter my pin, there is no box for that and there are only the buttons in the bottom right. I attempted console clearing my cache and using my recovery key to try restarting, but nothing has worked. Please help because i have important files and cannot reset this laptop

[Max3Aj]

@Infestiveintent, Hello and welcome to the HP Support Community!

Thanks for posting your question. I'm here to help you get things back on track.

I understand how stressful it can be to get locked out of your laptop especially when important files are at stake. You're stuck at the Windows lock screen on your HP laptop. The PIN/password box is missing, and only the Power and Accessibility icons are visible. You've already tried clearing the console cache and using your recovery key, but the issue persists.

Let’s work through this step-by-step to try and recover access without resetting the device.

Step 1: Perform a Hard Reboot

1. Press and hold the Power button for 10–15 seconds until the laptop shuts off.
2. Wait a few seconds, then power it back on.
3. Check if the login screen loads correctly.

Step 2: Boot into Safe Mode

This helps determine if a startup app or driver is causing the issue.

1. Turn off the laptop.
2. Turn it on and immediately press the F11 key repeatedly (once per second) until the Choose an option screen appears.
3. Select:
   • Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart
4. When the Startup Settings screen appears, press 4 or F4 to boot into Safe Mode.

If Safe Mode works and the login screen appears normally, restart the laptop again to see if the issue resolves. If not, continue to the next step.

Step 3: Use System Restore (No Data Loss)

If a recent update or crash caused the issue, restoring to a previous point may help.

1. Boot into F11 Recovery again.
2. Go to:
   • Troubleshoot > Advanced options > System Restore
3. Choose a restore point before the crash occurred and follow the prompts.

This will not delete your personal files, but recently installed apps or drivers may be removed.

Step 4: Use HP Startup Repair

HP provides a built-in tool to fix boot-related issues.

1. Boot into F11 Recovery.
2. Select:
   • Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Repair
3. Follow the on-screen instructions.

Recover Files Before Reset (if needed)

If none of the above work and you must reset, you can recover your files first:

• Use another PC to create a bootable USB with HP Cloud Recovery Tool or Windows Installation Media. HP Consumer PCs - Using the HP Cloud Recovery Tool in Windows 11 and 10 | HP® Support
• Boot from the USB and use Command Prompt or Notepad > File > Open to browse and copy files to an external drive.

I hope the information shared has been useful and resolves your concern.

Wishing you a smooth and hassle-free experience ahead!

If this solution helped, please click “Accepted Solution” so others can benefit too. Don’t forget to hit the “Yes” button if you found this helpful!

Warm regards,

Max3Aj

HP Support