Windows AD password complexity to require 4 character types

Question

My organization would like to enforce the requirement of 4 character types when changing passwords. We have complexity set in our fine grained password policy (which only enforces 3 types). Is there a setting in GPO to enforce 4? or is the only way with a 3rd-party solution?

Answer 1

Hi @Justin Formosa

Unfortunately no. in GPO you have also this option Passwords must meet complexity requirements to force 3 character types as mentioned in the link below:

Password must meet complexity requirements

You should explain to your organisation that's not possible and that you can force only 3 character types through active directory feature (GPO and fine grained password policy).

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Answer 2

Hello justin formosa,

Thank you for posting in Q&A forum.

I agree with Thameur-BOURBITA.

I originally thought that maybe the Custom Password Filter would do what you wanted, but after my query, I found that it doesn't work either.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/secmgmt/strong-password-enforcement-and-passfilt-dll

I hope the information above is helpful.

If you have any question or concern, please feel free to let us know.

Best Regards,
Daisy Zhou