Your Outlook email is linked to your Microsoft account. Although Microsoft does not make it mandatory to change your account password periodically, you should update it on a semi-regular basis for security reasons. You can visit your Microsoft account on Windows, Mac or top Chromebook and easily change your Outlook email password.
When should you change your Outlook password?
Data theft has become the norm these days. To secure your information, change your email, social media and online banking passwords regularly. Most top password managers like 1Password have features like Watchtower to notify you if your passwords were found in a password breach database. The feature also warns you against using reused or weak passwords.
You open yourself up to potential data theft when you use an easy-to-guess password, such as your parent’s name, birthday or spouse’s name. Although it may sound convenient to live a paperless life, you should not write your passwords on a sticky note or on your office computer. Anyone with access to your laptop can see your Outlook credentials and destroy your account. Overall, we strongly recommend changing your Outlook password when you encounter the following cases:
- You think someone has hacked or gained access to your Outlook account. You should receive an email when someone tries to access your Outlook account on a new phone or location.
- An Outlook email provider sends you an unidentified password reset link.
- You have forgotten the password for your Outlook email account.
- Your Outlook password appears in one of the security data breaches.
- Your preferred password manager suggests changing your weak and easily guessable Outlook password to a new one.
Change your Outlook password
You can use Microsoft Outlook on the web to change your Outlook password. Let’s check it in action.
- Visit your Microsoft account online. Log in with your account details.
- Select change Password on the top. You can access the same from Safety Menu.
- Since you are accessing sensitive information for your account, you must re-authenticate your account.
- Enter the current password, enter the new password and confirm the same. You can also put a check mark next to it Make me change my password every 72 days to update your security information periodically. Click Save.
You should also explore Microsoft’s advanced security options to protect your account from unauthorized access.
- Go to your Microsoft account online.
- Expand Safety menu and select Security dashboard.
- Authenticate your account. You can check the last password update date from Safety Menu. Select Advanced security options.
- Enable two-step verification and use a text code, authenticator app, or sign-in notification to prove your identity.
You can also explore passwordless sign-in and take the hassle out of dealing with long passwords on your Microsoft account. You can check Microsoft’s dedicated guide to learn more about passwordless login.
If you use Yahoo, Gmail, or iCloud email in Outlook and want to change your password for those services, you can go to their respective websites to update your account credentials.
Authorize your Outlook account on the desktop
When you open the Outlook app on a desktop or mobile device, it asks you to update your login details to receive or send emails. If the app doesn’t ask for new account details, you’ll need to manually remove the current Outlook account and add it back with the updated credentials.
- Open Outlook on Windows and click File in the upper left corner.
- Select Account settings from the Info tab.
- Select your Outlook account and click Remove on the top. Confirm your decision.
- Click New from the same menu.
- Enter your Outlook credentials to receive or send emails without any problems.
Keep your Outlook account secure
You should use a combination of special characters, numbers and letters in your new Outlook password. You can also generate and save complex passwords in the top password managers on your Android phone.
