Many people go for years without changing their passwords (including yours truly). Needless to say, that’s not a good thing as your password can get hacked easily. This is why it’s recommended to change your passwords periodically.
Now, Hotmail can keep prompting you for a password. This has nothing to do with security, but rather an issue with Hotmail and Outlook itself.
This is a common annoyance and many users have faced it.
The fix is fairly straightforward too. Read through this article to know what you can do to avoid this problem. But you may have to run through all the solutions until you know which one fixes it for you.
But before that, let’s understand why Hotmail keeps asking for this information.
Why Does Hotmail Keep Making Me Change My Password?
When you sign up for Hotmail, they will ask you to change your password periodically as a part of its built-in security. Thus, it’s not a good idea to disable it completely.
For example, if the 72-day expiration policy is set to your Microsoft account, you have to change the password once every 72 days.
You can circumvent this change by unchecking the “Make me change my password every 72 days” option while resetting your password. But please note that this is not recommended by Microsoft.
Also, if you’re part of an organization, then the security policies of your organization take precedence. For example, if your company mandates a password change once every 60 days, there’s no way to circumvent it.
Microsoft might also ask you to change your password if they alert you to the error, ‘Your Hotmail settings are out of date.’
Now that you see why your Hotmail password keeps changing, let’s see what you can do.
Steps To Take When Hotmail (Outlook) Keeps Asking To Change Your Password
Here are some steps you can take to stop Hotmail from asking for a password change.
Alter the Credentials Setting
Sometimes, your Hotmail or Outlook may be set up to prompt for your credentials each time you log in. Follow the steps below to change this setting.
- Open Outlook and navigate to File > Account Settings
- Choose your Exchange account.
- Look for a button called “Change” in the top ribbon and click it. This will open a new window and here, navigate to “More settings”
- In the next window that opens up, click the “Security” tab.
- Look for an option called “Always prompt for logon credentials”. Uncheck this option if it’s already checked.
- Finally, restart Outlook.
This should stop Hotmail from asking you for a password.
Doublecheck For Typos
Sometimes, the problem may not be with the software, but you can be typing the wrong password. This is particularly common if you have inadvertently turned on the caps lock. So, check if your password is right.
Use Windows Credentials Manager
A good way to reset your Outlook password is through the Windows Credentials Manager. This is a vault that protects your passwords from unauthorized access.
Before you start the next steps, exit Outlook. Then,
- Head to Control Panel and click on Credentials Manager.
- Go to the Generic Credentials section and remove any Microsoft or Office 365 email addresses.
- Choose “Remove from vaults”
This will remove the wrong credentials stored in the cache. When you log into Outlook again, you can enter the right password, and choose to store it. This will prevent Hotmail from asking for your passwords.
Use A Password Manager
Consider using a password manager as these tools keep your passwords safe from hackers. Further, all passwords stored in a password manager are encrypted, and this reduces the chances of a cyberattack.
Also, password managers streamline access and can prevent unauthorized entities from getting your password.
Ask Browsers To Store Passwords
You can ask browsers to store your password using the “Remember password” option. This way, you don’t have to type the password at every login.
However, note that there’s always a chance for hackers to get your password when they are stored on your browser.
Other Reasons
Some of the other possible reasons can include an unstable Internet connection due to which the client couldn’t transmit your password to the server.
Sometimes, it can also be due to server issues, due to which the password could not be authenticated. So, Hotmail may prompt you to enter the password again. A common error you will see for this: ‘ your request cannot be completed‘. Read our linked article for more info.
These are temporary glitches that may not repeat. So, the best option is to simply do it once and hope that it doesn’t happen again.
It’s important to get this issue sorted promptly as it can lead to other problems getting into your Hotmail account.
Phishing Emails
Before we end, a word of caution.
Sometimes, you can get unsolicited emails asking you to change your password. Never click on them as they are phishing emails sent by spammers and hackers.
When you click the link and change your password, these hackers can see what the password is. Later, they can use it to log into your account and send legitimate emails to your contacts, asking them to share their personal information.
Thinking that the email is from you, they’re likely to share their information, and unfortunately, it’ll be used by hackers for wrong/illegal purposes.
Remember, Hotmail rarely sends emails asking you to change your password. The only possibility is when there has been a data breach and Hotmail wants to let you know that your account is breached. Even in such a case, reach out to the support team to confirm if the breach is true, and only after this confirmation, change the password.
In all other cases, simply ignore or delete the email.
We hope one of these solutions resolves Hotmail’s frequent request for a password change.
