Locked Out? The Ultimate Guide to Home Assistant Password Reset in 2026

Last updated on March 25, 2026

Getting locked out of your Home Assistant instance is a heart-sinking moment for any smart home enthusiast. Whether you just forgot the password, a botched update corrupted something, or you’re dealing with a hardware swap, being shut out of your control center is a massive headache. The good news is that in 2026, there are several tried-and-true methods to perform a Home Assistant password reset, and in this definitive guide, I’ll walk you through every single one, step-by-step.

Common Reasons You Get Locked Out

Before we dive into the fixes, it’s helpful to know why this happens. From my experience helping other users (and, let’s be honest, myself), it usually boils down to one of these culprits:

• You just forgot the password: The simplest and most common reason. It happens to the best of us.
• A failed update: An incomplete update to Home Assistant Core or the OS can, in rare cases, mess with authentication files.
• SD Card or SSD Corruption: Storage failure is a well-known issue, especially on Raspberry Pi-based installations.
• Hardware Migration: When moving your setup to a new device, a fumbled backup restore can lead to login problems.

Method 1: You’re Still Logged In Somewhere

If you lucked out and are still logged in on a browser or the mobile app, you’re in the best-case scenario. This fix is quick and doesn’t require any command-line wizardry.

1. Navigate to Settings > People.
2. Click the “Add Person” button in the bottom-right corner.
3. Create a new user, give them a password you’ll remember, and—this is critical—toggle on the switch to make them an Administrator.
4. Log out of your current user account.
5. Log in with the new administrator account you just created.
6. Go back to Settings > People, select your original user account, and you’ll now have a “Change Password” option to reset it.

Once you’ve regained access to your main account, you can safely delete the temporary admin user. All your settings and dashboards will remain untouched.

Method 2: The Command-Line (CLI) Home Assistant Password Reset

This is the official, and safest, method for Home Assistant OS installations (running on a Raspberry Pi, ODROID, or as a VM). It requires you to access the Home Assistant command-line interface (CLI).

Step 1: Access the Home Assistant CLI

You have two primary ways to do this:

• Physical Access: Connect a keyboard and monitor directly to your device (like your Raspberry Pi). When it boots up, you’ll see the console. Just press Enter to activate it.
• Remote Access (SSH): If you have the “Terminal & SSH” add-on installed and configured, you can connect to it remotely from another computer using an SSH client.

Step 2: Run the Reset Command

Once you’re at the command line, which you’ll recognize by the ha > prompt, type the following command to reset your Home Assistant password. Make sure to replace YOUR_USERNAME with your actual username and YOUR_SECURE_NEW_PASSWORD with the new password you want to set.

ha auth reset --username YOUR_USERNAME --password YOUR_SECURE_NEW_PASSWORD

After running the command, the system will confirm the change. That’s it! You can now go back to the web interface and log in with your new credentials.

Method 3: The “Nuke It” Option – Deleting Auth Files (Last Resort)

If you’re running a Home Assistant Container (Docker) installation or can’t access the CLI, this is your fallback plan. This method involves wiping all user and authentication data, forcing Home Assistant to trigger the initial setup process so you can create a new owner account from scratch.

Heads Up! This process will delete ALL users, but it will NOT touch your entities, automations, scripts, or dashboards.

1. Stop Home Assistant. If you’re using Docker, run docker stop home-assistant (or whatever you named your container).
2. Access your configuration folder. This is the folder where your configuration.yaml file lives. The easiest way to get here is via the Samba share add-on if you had it installed.
3. Navigate into the hidden subfolder named .storage.
4. Inside .storage, delete the following files:
   • auth
   • auth_provider.homeassistant
   • onboarding
   • hassio
   • cloud
5. Restart Home Assistant.

When you navigate to the web UI, you’ll be greeted with the new owner account creation screen, just like a fresh install. Create your user and password, and you’ll have full control of your system again.

Home Assistant Password Reset FAQ

What if I forgot my username, too?

If you can’t remember your username, the CLI method won’t work. In this situation, your only path forward is Method 3: deleting the authentication files to restart the user onboarding process.

How can I access the files if I don’t have Samba set up?

If your installation is on an SD card or SSD, you can shut down the system, remove the storage media, and plug it into another computer.

Once mounted, the path to your configuration is typically /mnt/data/supervisor/homeassistant/.

How can I prevent this from happening again?

Prevention is always the best strategy. Here’s what I strongly recommend:

• Use a password manager: In 2026, tools like Bitwarden, 1Password, or KeePass are non-negotiable for generating and storing strong, unique passwords.
• Create a backup admin user: Just like in Method 1, having a second administrator account stored safely in your password manager can be a lifesaver.
• Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): In Settings > People, select your user and go to the “Credentials” tab. Here you can add an authenticator app like Google Authenticator or Authy for an extra layer of security.
• Set up automatic backups: Configure regular backups, for example, using the Google Drive Backup integration, so you can restore your system to an earlier point if all else fails.