How to Fix It When Outlook Keeps Asking for a Password

When Outlook keeps asking for a password, chances are it’s not checking for mail, and is instead simply stuck on a password prompt loop. There are several steps you can take to stop that from happening so that Outlook remembers your password for good.

Why Is Outlook Constantly Asking for My Password?

There are a few likely causes for this:

• Outlook accepts the password just fine, but it’s not set up to remember it.
• The password to your email account is different from the one stored in Outlook.
• The password saved in Outlook has become corrupt.
• The software is outdated and contains bugs.
• Security apps are preventing Outlook from working normally.

If you’ve already skimmed the rest of this page, you’ve seen there are more potential solutions than the ones addressing the list above. This particular issue is far from uncommon, so there are possibly dozens of obscure solutions for it, depending on your specific situation.

How Do I Make Outlook Stop Asking for My Password?

Follow these steps in the order they’re listed (from the most likely fix to the least probable):

1. Select Cancel on the password prompt. This is the easiest possible fix that has worked for some people.

   
   

2. Close and reopen Outlook. The password prompt might be a random occurrence that won’t happen again if you just relaunch the program.

   
   

3. Restart the computer. This isn’t the quickest solution, but it’s one of the easier ones to try; rebooting tends to fix inexplicable issues like this one.

   A restart will close down background processes that could be to blame, and will let you open Outlook from the ground up.

   
   

4. Make Outlook remember your password by unchecking the Always prompt for logon credentials option in the settings.

   This is the most likely fix if, after entering the password, everything works normally for a while, but then you’re asked for it again later.

5. Change the password Outlook is using to access your email. If you made a new password for your email but didn’t update it in Outlook, the program is asking for the password because it genuinely doesn’t know what it is.

   If your email account uses two-factor authentication, you might need to create a special password just for Outlook. Not all email providers have this feature but you can contact the company for directions or clarity if you’re not sure—here are app password instructions for Gmail.

   This is only relevant if you recently changed your email password. If you didn’t, just skip this step.

6. Close Outlook if it’s open, then open Credential Manager and delete all the stored passwords associated with Outlook/MS Office. To do this, choose Windows Credentials first, and then Remove under the credentials you want to delete.

   You’ll be asked again to enter your email password the next time you open Outlook, but it should stick.

   Some users have had luck deleting associated passwords in another area of Windows, too. For example, in Windows 11, go to Settings > Accounts > Email & accounts to view and delete the ones related to the troublesome email account.

7. Open Outlook and go to File > Office Account > Sign out. Then, close Outlook, reopen it, and log in again through that same screen.

   This might not be the same email that’s having the password issue, so this won’t work for everyone.

8. Update Outlook to the latest version. A bug could be the reason Outlook won’t stop asking for your password, and the latest update might address it.

   
   

9. Install any pending Windows updates. Some of them might be affecting Outlook. Be sure to reboot the computer afterward.

   
   

10. Disable all your security software, including any firewall or antivirus programs. If after doing so, Outlook quits asking for the email password, you know there’s a security rule or software conflict at play, and you can investigate that further.

    See how to disable the Windows firewall for directions. All antivirus programs are different, but if you happen to use Avast’s, here’s how to disable Avast Antivirus (take a look even if you use an AV app from another company; it’s most likely somewhat similar).

    This is clearly something you don’t want to keep off, but doing so temporarily is fine, so long as you disable these apps only for the duration you’re troubleshooting this problem. Just don’t download any files or plug in any potentially dangerous devices in the meantime.

11. Start Outlook in safe mode to prevent add-ins from starting. This is a long shot since all this step will confirm is the unlikely event an add-in is to blame. But, it’s easy to do and will provide some direction if you’re still having the password loop.

    
    

12. Fix your slow internet connection. A delay in communicating with the email server might be what’s causing the password prompt, so this could be the source of the problem if you’ve been having spotty service.

    If you’re using a wireless network, the easiest way to boost the Wi-Fi signal is to move closer to the router.

    
    

13. Make a new Outlook profile. This will let you re-add the email account from scratch, hopefully without the password issue.

    
    

14. Make a new user in Windows. Some users have had luck fixing the password prompt issue by starting over with a new user account. This won’t delete Outlook, nor will it erase your current user account.

    
    

15. Run Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant. SaRA, as it’s also known, is a tool that runs various tests to see what could be wrong with Outlook and will offer some solutions if possible.

    Once you get the program installed, choose Outlook > Next, followed by Outlook keeps asking for my password, and then follow the rest of the on-screen directions.

    This is a ZIP download. Extract the contents out of the archive after you download it, and then open SaraSetup to start the installation process.

16. Reinstall Outlook and then try again. With a brand-new user profile and a fresh installation of Outlook, there’s little left to be tried to make Outlook remember your password.

    
    

17. Follow Microsoft’s troubleshooting steps if you have Windows 10 and you just recently updated to Office 2016 build 16.0.7967.

    This step and the others that follow are very specific and will most likely not apply to the vast majority of people. Try your best to complete all of the above steps before moving on to these.

18. Delete any shared calendars or shared mailboxes if they were deleted by the person who originally shared them, or if your access to them has been removed. Outlook might prompt you for a password over and over because the share is no longer valid.

    
    

19. Turn off Cached Exchanged Mode. This is relevant for Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Exchange Server mailboxes.

    
    

20. If you can edit the Windows Registry on your computer, follow this step to exclude Outlook from detecting Microsoft 365.

    First, open this path in the registry:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice16.0OutlookAutoDiscover
    

    Then, create the DWORD value ExcludeExplicitO365Endpoint, and give it a value of 1.

    
    

21. Add the AlwaysUseMSOAuthForAutoDiscover value to the registry. Microsoft says this could be the solution if you’re asked for the password and Outlook doesn’t use Modern Authentication to connect to Office 365.

    
    

22. Use a different email program. No, this isn’t technically a solution to this problem, but if none of the above suggestions have been helpful, you might be left needing to use a completely different app to send and receive mail. Some of them even look and feel a bit like Outlook, so you won’t be missing much.