Password change in Outlook

Question

How to I change a password in the Outlook email application?

Answer 1

Hi Sharon Michelson,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum. 

May I confirm whether you’re using a Work/School (Microsoft 365/Exchange) account or a Personal (Outlook.com/Hotmail/Live) account?

If it’s a Personal (Outlook.com/Hotmail/Live) account, please follow these steps:

1. Change your Microsoft account password

• Go to the Security page of your Microsoft account and select Change password.
• Enter the new password and select Save.

2. Sign in again in Classic Outlook (Windows)

• Close and reopen Classic Outlook. After the password is changed, Outlook will typically prompt you to enter the new password—enter it and complete the sign-in.

If Outlook doesn’t prompt you / still shows “Need Password”:

• You may need to remove the account and add it again in your Outlook profile.

Additional note (only if you’re using Outlook 2016/2013):

• If two-step verification is enabled on the Microsoft account, you may need to create an app password to add/sign in to the Outlook.com account in Outlook 2016/2013.

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Answer 2

In Outlook for Windows, the password used for an email account cannot be changed directly in the Outlook application. The password must be changed with the email provider first, then updated in Outlook if prompted.

Follow these steps:

1. Change the password with the email provider:
   • For Microsoft 365 or Outlook.com accounts, use the provider’s website to change the password (for example, go to the Microsoft 365 or Outlook.com password pages referenced in the documentation).
   • For other providers (Gmail, Yahoo, iCloud, Xfinity, corporate Exchange, etc.), sign in to the provider’s web portal and change the password under account or profile/security settings.
2. Update the password in Outlook for Windows after it has been changed at the provider:
   • Open Outlook for Windows.
   • When Outlook detects that the stored password no longer works, it will prompt for credentials.
   • Enter the new password in the sign-in dialog and complete any additional prompts (such as two-factor authentication or app passwords, if required by the provider).

If Outlook does not prompt automatically but mail stops sending/receiving after a password change, select the account icon next to the email account name (in the new Outlook experience) and follow the prompts to sign in again with the new password.

For accounts that require an app password (for example, when the provider enforces multi-factor authentication and does not allow the regular password in apps), generate an app password on the provider’s site and enter that in Outlook instead of the regular password.

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References:

• Change or update your email password in Outlook for Windows
• I can't send or receive messages in Outlook