Microsoft Outlook is a highly preferred desktop email client. It’s features have made it the most suitable option for large businesses as well as End users. It is very easy to manage contacts, emails, calendar, tasks, meeting schedule and perform several other business related activities. Most of the time, Outlook provides seamless services to its users, but sometimes certain issues can also occur.
A very common problem faced by users making use of versions such as Outlook 2016, 2013, 2010,or 2007 is the irritating and repetitive Username and Password prompt. It appears as a window that pops up on the screen every time the Send/Receive button is clicked for checking new emails. A User needs to solve this issue to continue the work.
In the following article we will describe the Quick Solution to fix this Outlook Error. Before that let’s take a look at user’s query
User Query
Check Outlook Settings
If you are using a Microsoft Exchange account in Outlook, there is a setting in the Outlook profile that causes repetitive prompt of Username and password. To locate the setting, please follow the given steps:
- In Outlook 2013, under the File tab Go to >Info > Account Settings >Account Settings…
- Select your Exchange account and click on the “Change button”
- Next click on “More Settings” button.
- Select the “Security” tab.
- Below the User Identification, see to it that “Always prompt for login credentials” option is not selected.
If you are using other types of account In Outlook then make sure you have ticked the “Remember Password” checkbox
Restart your System
Rebooting your computer leads to a complete reset all of the software applications installed on the computer and also reloads all the registry files.The issue can most probably happen again and if you want to avoid spending time trying to find out which software caused this, then rebooting the system can act as a quick fix.
So, to sum it up the first thing you should do if Outlook repeatedly asks for your username and password is to reboot your system. This again should work in case of all versions released after 2007 i.e. Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013, or 2016.
Check your Anti-virus
Sometimes the Antivirus software can cause conflicts with other software running on the system. This happens mainly due to the constant update of the virus definitions which may lead to Outlook asking for username and password. This can be in the case of most Outlook versions such as Outlook 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007.
Try disabling your antivirus software temporarily and see if the problem persists.
Check your Internet Connection
Due to an unstable internet connection on your laptop or PC, you’ll most probably be shifting from one network to the next.Each time a new network connection is established, it will require you to enter the credentials.
For overcoming this issue, contact your ISP to provide a stable connection or switch to better Internet plans.
Check Credentials Manager Information
The Credentials Manager is a storehouse for all the username and password associated with different applications.
To perform this check, perform these steps-
- Click on Control Panel, after this select “Credentials Manager” option. It can be found by the following path “Start” > “Control Panel” > “Credentials Manager”.
- If you wish to find “Credentials Manager” in the Control Panel, then click on “View by” button which is present at the top and rightmost portion of the screen. Set the “View By” to Large or Small Icon according to your requirement.
Usually,it is set to Category by default. So you can simply click on “User Account and Family safety” and then go to “Credentials Manager” - Now search for the group of username and password pairs that have MS.Outlook or a similar word, with the Mail Server as your name
- Click on the name to open those group of details, and then select the option “Remove from Vault”
- Do the above mentioned step again for every credential that starts with the string “Outlook” present in the name.
- Exit the “Credentials Manager” and the Control Panel.
- Start Outlook.
Create a New Outlook Profile
If you have tried all the above mentioned methods and still haven’t found any solution then it is a possibility that your profile configured with Outlook may be corrupted or managed.
This is another cause for the application to ask for the credentials.For resolving this issue once and for all, make a new Outlook profile.
Conclusion
In the above discussion we have explained about the exact nature of the repeated authentication error in Outlook 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007. An example of a user’s query is given for better understanding and some possible solutions are provided to resolve the problem.
Depending on the origin of the issue, different methods may work for different users.