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Outlook Keeps Asking for Password: How to Stop It

Short answer: Repeated password prompts usually come from saved credentials that are out of date or an authentication setting mismatch.

TL;DR: quick fix

Confirm your password works by signing in at outlook.office.com or outlook.com.
In Windows, open Credential Manager > Windows Credentials and remove saved entries for Outlook/Office/MicrosoftOffice, then restart Outlook and sign in again.
Update Office (File > Office Account > Update Options > Update Now).

Is Outlook down?

Before you change settings, check Microsoft 365 Service health. If there's an outage, wait it out.

How to fix it: step by step

Confirm your password works by signing in at outlook.office.com or outlook.com.
In Windows, open Credential Manager > Windows Credentials and remove saved entries for Outlook/Office/MicrosoftOffice, then restart Outlook and sign in again.
Update Office (File > Office Account > Update Options > Update Now).
If your organization uses multi-factor authentication, make sure you finished the approval in your authenticator app.
In File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings > Privacy Options, make sure Office is allowed to connect to online services (Microsoft lists this as a cause of repeated prompts).
If prompts continue, create a new Outlook profile or ask your IT admin to check the account.

FAQ

Is the repeated prompt a hack?

Usually not, but if you see sign-in alerts you don't recognize, change your password and review recent activity in your Microsoft account.

More Outlook fixes

Last checked Oct 2026 against the official help page: Microsoft Learn. Menus can differ by app version; follow the official page if a step doesn't match.