Outlook keeps asking for password - each time I use it

Hi Vicki Mann

To better understand your situation, could you please share some information:

• What is your email type? (ex: your email end with @outlook.com, hotmail.com... or end with @yourcompany.com)? Please do not share your full email address for privacy.
• When did you first notice this issue starting? Did the issue start immediately after a specific change? (ex: after Windows or Office update, change your email password or your organization recently make changes to security settings...)

I look forward to your response.

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Outlook repeatedly asking for a password is usually caused by one of these:

1. Password changed or expired
2. Cached/incorrect credentials
3. Outlook/Office authentication settings
4. Outlook not allowed to connect to the internet for sign-in

Try these steps in order:

1. Confirm the correct account password

• Make sure the password used in Outlook matches the one used to sign in to the email provider (for example, webmail or Microsoft 365 portal).
• If the password was recently changed or expired, update it in Outlook using the steps in Change or update your email password (see reference).

2. Check username and basic sign-in

• Ensure the username in Outlook is the full email address (for example, ******@contoso.com).
• Verify Caps Lock is off when entering the password, because passwords are case sensitive.

3. Clear saved Windows credentials for Outlook/Microsoft 365

• Open Control Panel → Credential Manager → Windows Credentials.
• Remove any entries related to Outlook, Microsoft Office, Microsoft 365, or the mail server.
• Close and reopen Outlook and sign in again, selecting the option to remember credentials if prompted.

4. Make sure Outlook is allowed to connect to the internet If Outlook shows “Need Password” or fails to create/connect a profile and keeps prompting:

• In Outlook, go to File → Options → Trust Center → Trust Center Settings.
• Under Privacy Options, make sure “Allow Office to connect to the Internet” is selected.
• Restart Outlook and test again.

5. Run Microsoft 365 Outlook password diagnostics (newer Outlook) If using Outlook for Microsoft 365 or a recent Outlook 2016/2019 build:

• Use the “Diag: Outlook keeps asking for my password” self-diagnostics mentioned in the documentation to automatically check and fix common causes.

6. For older Outlook builds: adjust Logon network security If using an older Outlook version that still exposes the “Logon network security” setting and it is affected:

• Close Outlook.
• Open Control Panel → Mail → Email Accounts → select the Exchange/Microsoft 365 account → Change → More Settings → Security.
• Set “Logon network security” to “Anonymous Authentication”.
• Restart Outlook and test.

If the problem persists after these steps, check with the organization’s IT admin to confirm there are no certificate, authentication policy, or Modern Authentication configuration issues on the mail server side.

References:

• Troubleshoot Outlook email setup
• Outlook 2016 keeps asking for username and password
• Password prompt at every Outlook start or can't create profile
• Outlook continually prompts for your password when you try to connect to Microsoft 365
• Do you know how to fix the issue where Outlook keeps prompting for a password even though credentials are saved - Microsoft Q&A
• Outlook ask for credentials every minute - Microsoft Q&A
• How to fix the issue with MS Office asking you to log in every time you open an Office app - Microsoft Q&A