SQL Server Management Studio 18 remember password not working?

galletto 186

With one of the latest updates of SSMS 18 (I'm now on 18.6), the remember password feature does not seem to work anymore. Am I missing something?

Cheers,
Galletto

Leo Muller 26 Reputation points

2020-11-02T11:36:18.317+00:00

It seems that SQL Server Management Studio from time to time randomly sees to forget your password that you clearly asked to remember. Even though many times it may remember, and then one day, it forgets.

This seems to happen ALWAYS when you have something stored in your CLIPBOARD when you open SQL Management Studio.
hermecDBA 1 Reputation point

2020-12-02T23:53:58.13+00:00

If anyone also has this issue, please vote it up here:
https://feedback.azure.com/forums/908035-sql-server/suggestions/41354875-ssms-18-6-remember-password-option-doesnt-work
Will de Haan 1 Reputation point

2020-12-04T08:06:58.167+00:00

@hermecDBA that forum asks me to provide a password, but it's not clear to me for what account?
Jay Imerman 11 Reputation points

2020-12-17T19:33:55.393+00:00

For the Vote Up, we need an "Up +1000" for this particular issue! It has been doing this for years now, and it is so annoying.
Jay Imerman 11 Reputation points

2020-12-17T19:34:05.283+00:00

For the Vote Up, we need an "Up +1000" for this particular issue! It has been doing this for years now, and it is so annoying.
galletto 186 Reputation points

2020-12-21T08:15:35.503+00:00

I tried voting, but it won't accept my login there.
Bill Guenthner 1 Reputation point

2021-08-13T14:05:14.007+00:00

I don't understand it either. Microsoft struggles to keep basic functionality working in many of their applications. It can't be a lack of talent so it has to be a lack of caring.

11 answers

Erland Sommarskog 101.4K Reputation points MVP

2020-09-22T22:00:42.04+00:00

It seems to work for me, but I don't have that many SQL logins.

An MVP colleague had problems with this, but I believe this was in an earlier version and I think 18.6 resolved his problem.

In the Control Panel, you can look in the Credential Manager. I seem to recall that he had a bit of a mess there.
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galletto 186 Reputation points

2020-09-23T15:17:38.553+00:00

I don't see anything resembling a Credential Manager in my W10 PC?

Erland Sommarskog 101.4K Reputation points MVP

2020-09-23T21:18:33.653+00:00

Is that your private PC, or is a corporate laptop?

If the Credential Manager has been disabled by group policy, that could explain why your passwords does not stick.

I guess the reason that SSMS uses Credential Manager is that it offers an encrypted and protected storage.

In any case it is the Control Panel.

Erland Sommarskog 101.4K Reputation points MVP

2020-09-24T19:19:35.547+00:00

I heard from my MVP colleague, and he still has problems with this on 18.6. He says that is is better than before, but passwords are still forgotten.
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Cris Zhan-MSFT 6,606 Reputation points

2020-09-23T09:16:51.607+00:00

Hi @galletto ,

Can you describe your situation/scenario in detail to conclude that this feature is not available.
I used SSMS18.6 on multiple machines and did not encounter this problem.

SSMS's password management switched to Windows Credential Manager with version 18
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galletto 186 Reputation points

2020-09-23T15:14:36.787+00:00

So what does it mean that SSMS switched to Windows Credential Manager? Do I need to do anything about that in SSMS? The detailed description is that SSMS does not remember passwords, although I select the feature when logging in to a database.

Cris Zhan-MSFT 6,606 Reputation points

2020-09-24T02:01:27.813+00:00

What's new in 18.0
General SSMS Switched to "Windows Credential Manager" for connection dialog MRU passwords. This addresses a long outstanding issue where persistence of passwords wasn't always reliable.

The Windows Credentials are visible at: Control Panel\User Accounts \Credential Manager. Or search box on the taskbar and type "credential".
Check the SSMS credential records(Microsoft:SSMS:18:...)

Cris Zhan-MSFT 6,606 Reputation points

2020-09-28T01:17:13.243+00:00

Hi @galletto ,
Is there any update on this case?

galletto 186 Reputation points

2020-09-29T07:06:11.707+00:00

Tried to see what's happening in the Windows credential manager. No luck: SSMS does not seem to store anything there. There was one entry which I removed, but that didn't help.

Cris Zhan-MSFT 6,606 Reputation points

2020-09-29T09:08:20.353+00:00

Hi galletto,

Open the file >> C:\Users\userName\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SQL Server Management Studio\18.0\UserSettings.xml
Search with the keyword Password, whether you can find entries related to the login name.

Make sure that SSMS is not started, then try to cut this 18.0 folder under C:\Users\userName\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SQL Server Management Studio to Desktop, then start SSMS, log in and remember the password. Note that after starting SSMS, an new18.0 folder will be created again. If there are any problems, move back the 18.0 folder that was previously removed.

I cannot reproduce your problem. Do you have other machines with SSMS 18.6 also having this problem? If possible, re-install SSMS.

Erland Sommarskog 101.4K Reputation points MVP

2020-09-29T21:21:44.967+00:00

Possibly you could use Process Monitor from sysinternals.com to see if SSMS is accessing Credential Manager and if something goes wrong.

Using Process Monitor can be quite tedious, not the least if you don't know exactly what you are looking for. (I don't know off-hand how I would identify Credential Manager in the output from Process Monitor.)

galletto 186 Reputation points

2020-10-07T07:48:23.913+00:00

This was the solution. Thanks!

The issue is related to importing user settings from a previouds version. When I do that, remembering passwords does not work anymore:

"Would you like to import the SSMS user settings from SSMS 17?
If you do not import SSMS will load the default user settings."

If I don't, all is well. (Except I need to find all server names etc. again)

Thanks again,
Will

Rajsanthosh 1 Reputation point

2021-07-15T07:25:55.88+00:00

This one worked for me. Thanks

Luz E 1 Reputation point

2021-08-23T05:42:57.663+00:00

Thanks to Criszhan. It worked for me too. I just deleted the content between the <ConnectionOptions></ConnectionOptions> Tag.

Juraj Ondruš 1 Reputation point

2022-01-25T07:17:19.83+00:00

This worked for me. I moved the 18.0 and 18.0_IsoShell folders to a backup location. Started SMSS - it asked whether I want to import things from v17. When I imported them, the password was NOT remembered. So, I guess sometihng is wrong with the imported data. So, I moved the newly created folders away again. This time, when starting SMSS I selected the option to DO NOT IMPORT. Now, I had to re-type my SQL servers and logon credentials but, they are remembered now!!!!
Thanks for the hint!

Calle 1 Reputation point

2022-04-26T16:04:39.697+00:00

Perfect! This worked for me at 18.11
Said NO to upgrade from 14.0

Thanks a lot

Calle:-)

Alan 6 Reputation points

2022-08-11T13:23:42.637+00:00

Did Microsoft intentionally break this in version 18? Does anyone at that useless company test any of their products? If they do, do they have a brain? An actual brain, like one that works???

How come a "community expert" cant see this blindingly obvious issue that's present on every installation of SSMS for the last several years?

Is all this some kind of sick joke? The ****ing REMEMBER PASSWORD feature doesn't REMEMBER PASSWORD. In what world can Microsoft be constituted as software developers?????

Erland Sommarskog 101.4K Reputation points MVP

2022-08-11T20:58:39.237+00:00

Did Microsoft intentionally break this in version 18? Does anyone at that useless company test any of their products?

I guess they do.

How come a "community expert" cant see this blindingly obvious issue that's present on every installation of SSMS for the last several years?

Not all. I don't see this issue.

And that is the challenge when you are developing software: you know that there is a bug, but you cannot reproduce it at will. That is a very difficult situation.

Robert Watkins 1 Reputation point

2022-10-03T15:56:37.757+00:00

Deleting the entire '<Item>' element containing '<ServerConnectionSettings>', '<UserName>' and so forth, then letting SMSS recreate that the next time it starts, causes it to start saving the password for SQL Server user IDs.

Jay Imerman 11 Reputation points

2022-10-03T19:16:34.717+00:00

I'm curious - because getting it to "start" saving the password was never my issue, it was getting it to "keep" saving the password where it went wrong. Any of the guys who answered above that it worked for them - did it stay working indefinitely, or did it finally stop saving? I am having it where perhaps at least once or twice a month, it just forgets passwords, all of the saved ones, and I have to re-enter them. Also, I checked the referenced UserSettings.xml file, and even with saved passwords successfully coming up in the dialogs, the Password section of each connection is empty (i.e. it says <Password /> with no content).

Kandarp Gautam 6 Reputation points

2022-10-13T10:39:30.223+00:00

Is this so difficult that it didn't get a fix for years? SSMS Cannot be a sci-fi movie. Try connecting to a remote SQL SERVER via VPN. It's strange. When u create a backup of DB, it gets stored in the remote server, the reason for mentioning this is that what if storing credentials in credential manager works the same way? could it be the reason for the key conflict?

Bryan Sudol 0 Reputation points

2024-01-12T20:05:27.1466667+00:00

SSMS intermittently forgets passwords - it's been doing this for at least 10 years. If you don;t know what we're talking about, you must not use SSMS that much. Whenever you need it the most, the password field will be blank for no apparent reason (like many MS bugs). It happens to me with random entries a few times a year. Yet another f^cking annoying bug that stupid MS will never fix.

Erland Sommarskog 101.4K Reputation points MVP

2024-01-12T22:21:14.3033333+00:00

Yet another f^cking annoying bug that stupid MS will never fix.

Correct. They will never fix a bug as long as they cannot repro it. If you can provide a step-by-step description of a disappearing password that is 100 per cent reproducible, it is certainly likely that they will fix it. But you say it yourself "random". Myself, I have a few passwords saved, but most of the time I use Windows authentication, and do not always save passwords. So if it happens to me, I may not even notice.

Jay Imerman 11 Reputation points

2024-01-14T02:20:35.76+00:00

Agree 100%. I just installed SSMS latest version on a new Win 11 pc, and exactly the same issue within 2 weeks. I think MS simply doesn’t know what is causing it, and isn’t motivated enough to code around it.

Jay Imerman 11 Reputation points

2024-01-14T02:24:08.8+00:00

@Erland Sommarskog that is not true. Even knowing the issue is enough and they can develop a workaround. True its not as nice as fixing the code causing the problem, but sometimes that is what you have to do. And I have been able to reproduce this issue 100% for over 10 years, so even though I can’t predict exactly when it will happen, I can predict that it WILL happen.

Scott Craig 1 Reputation point

2024-01-14T07:01:49.67+00:00

@Erland Sommarskog I’ve been using SSMS, 20 years and I can’t remember a time where this didn’t happen across all SsMS versions. It is perplexing as it does appear to be random and not reproducible, yet it contains to happen infrequently. What MS could do I guess, is simply re-write the code that stores the password using a different mechanism for saving, whatever that is.

Erland Sommarskog 101.4K Reputation points MVP

2024-01-14T11:14:48.34+00:00

Even knowing the issue is enough and they can develop a workaround

Hm, they find that the password has gone poof. How would the workaround look like? They invent a password out of thin air?

It is worth keeping in mind that the password disappearing is not the worst thing that can happen in this context. A lot worse is that a malicious program finds the password and the username that goes with it and sends it somewhere.

If you want to track your stored passwords, look in Control Panel->Credential Manager->Windows Credentials.
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Abdul Arfat Mohammed 31 Reputation points

2020-10-14T05:23:57.117+00:00
@galletto Hi there!

I faced the same problem. As a workaround, you can delete that entry (which SSMS forgets) from the 'Connect to Server' dialog box as shown below:

Hover on that entry

Click del on keyboard

Now close SSMS and open it and type in that entry again and make sure you click remember password checkbox.

Now open SSMS it should be remembering password now.

Let me know how it goes for you.

Probably my guess is that SSMS is unable to save the password later if we initially (first time) ask it to not remember.
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6 people found this answer helpful.
galletto 186 Reputation points

2020-10-14T06:35:00.49+00:00

In another forum the final solution was found: delete the SSMS directoryfrom your local roaming preferences and start SSMS, without migrating preferences from the previous version.
Yours probably does about the same.
Thx

Andrew Beaven 11 Reputation points

2020-10-18T21:55:05.277+00:00

Deleting the entry in SSMS worked for me. Thanks for the tip!

Xavier T 21 Reputation points

2020-10-21T12:48:57.237+00:00

It worked for me too. At the beginning I didn't find the SSMS directory. It is here:

"C:\Users\YOUR_USER\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SQL Server Management Studio"

Then I had to create my connections anew. Instead of deleting the "SQL Server Management Studio" folder, I just renamed it so that I could check for the old values. Once all the connections were successfully created, I finally deleted the old (renamed) folder.

Darren Woodford 1 Reputation point

2021-02-03T10:51:03.76+00:00

It was also answered here https://learn.microsoft.com/answers/comments/111136/view.html

Markus Johansson 1 Reputation point

2021-03-31T11:52:25.057+00:00

Thanks for sharing this! It worked great for me!

I think that this might be related to the fact that I imported these when I upgraded from SSMS v17x to v18.8, maybe the bug is related to accounts that was imported?

maher.aidan 1 Reputation point

2021-08-24T14:32:32.807+00:00

Worked for me.

Really sad to see old Microsoft forums being retired and I have to find something recent with low traffic which is hard to find. "Microsoft Connect is Retired" or "Thanks for your interest in providing feedback on Azure products and services. We value your opinion. We are evaluating enhancements and standardizations to improve and streamline how we communicate with customers and collect their feedback. Customers can continue to communicate with Microsoft and provide feedback through a number of different channels"

Why are they still showing up on a google search with text to solve the problem -- get the retired sites off of google.

Michael Sim 1 Reputation point

2021-10-21T13:25:01.183+00:00

Thanks, this worked for me as well, much appreciated.

Lorenzo Cernecca 1 Reputation point

2023-02-15T02:55:59.0333333+00:00

This worked for me. Thank you Abdul
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Ronen Ariely 15,096 Reputation points

2020-09-24T01:11:16.95+00:00
Good day all :-)

Here is my 2 cants on the topic:

----------

galletto: I don't see anything resembling a Credential Manager in my W10 PC?

There are multiple options to open the "Credential Manager" or the "Stored User Names and Password" GUI.

Both provide the same information and the options to add, edit, and remove credentials. The "Stored User Names and Password" GUI also provide option to backup and restore information. The information can be also managed using command shell and PowerShell

option 1: To open Credential Manager in windows 10, type "credential manager" (without the quotation marks) in the search box on the taskbar and select "Credential Manager Control panel" or "Credential Manager".

Option 2: Open "Control Panel" -> Select "User accounts" -> select "Credential Manager"

Option 3: To manage Credential using PowerShell and Command Shell you can use the utility "cmdkey.exe" using the command "cmdkey"

# Get more information cmdkey # Show all Credentials cmdkey /list # Add Credential cmdkey /add:<target> /user:<user_name> /pass:<password>

option 4: Open the "Stored User Names and Password" GUI

Start > Run > rundll32.exe keymgr.dll,KRShowKeyMgr

Option 5: open the Credential Manager (Do not ask me why "Userpasswords2" but this works)

Start > Run > Control Userpasswords2 > Click the "Advanced" tab and then click "Manage Passwords".

Option 6: Using Control Panel

Open "Control Panel" > "User Accounts" > "Credentional manager"

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Erland: It seems to work for me, but I don't have that many SQL logins.

Not sure if this considered as many, but on my laptop I have about 50 and I did not noticed any issue.

----------

So what does it mean that SSMS switched to Windows Credential Manager?

SQL Server Management Studio version 18 stores the passwords under the windows application saved password which can be managed using the "Credential Manager". Therefore, we can use the options above in order to open the "Credential Manager" and you will see the SSMS stored password by default.

If there is an issue and the passwords where not stored then we should not see them there. If the passwords were stored then you should see one entry for each case (for each user in each app).

(1) Open Credential Manager and move to the tab "Windows Credential" (usually in opened on "Web Credential")

(2) Scroll down to the list of "generic Credential", where you should find the SSMS Credentials

check if you see Credentials which look like: Microsoft:SSMS:18:<here comes the specific information for this Credential>

If you have these then SSMS probably stored your information.

Moreover, we can add password to the SSMS directly in the "Credential Manager" without even open the SSMS.

Do I need to do anything about that in SSMS?

Usually not and it should work, but in case it does not works well then you can check the information using the Credential Manager
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1 person found this answer helpful.
galletto 186 Reputation points

2020-09-29T07:01:31.537+00:00

Well, I checked out the credential manager. There was one entry for SSMS, which I removed.
It doesn't help... SSMS does not add entries. Strange and annoying...
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Gabriel Gtz 1 Reputation point

2020-09-28T05:53:35.48+00:00

Well... this is not an answer, sorry, it's a complaint because this problem persists for years and versions, I really can't believe it, the randomness drives me crazy, well, in fact, now I can "feel it", when SSMS will forget the password, I think that sometimes is better than nothing and we have to take it that way...
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