Change your password
When you first sign in to Microsoft Office 365 for professionals and small businesses, use the temporary password given to you, and then create a new password to use for sign-in thereafter. You can also change your password at any time after you’ve signed in. This topic addresses changing your password after you’ve signed in.
What do you want to do?
Change my password
Learn about password policy
What to do if you forget your password
Change my password
To change your password, follow these steps:
In the Office 365 portal, in the top-right corner near your name, click My profile.
On the My profile page, click Change password.
On the Change password page, type your old password a new password, and then retype the new password to confirm it.
Click Submit.
Note
When you change your password in Office 365, be sure to update the password on your phone and desktop email program to match the new password for your account.
Password policy
By default, Office 365 user passwords are set to expire on a regular basis. When your password expires, you are notified when you sign in.
When you create a new password, use the following guidelines:
Use 8 to 16 characters.
Create a strong password that can’t be easily guessed or discovered. Office 365 requires at least 3 of the following:
Lowercase characters
Uppercase characters
Numbers (0-9)
Symbols, including: ! @ # $ % ^ & * - _ + = [ ] { } | \ : ‘ , . ? / ` ~ “ < > ( ) ;
Don’t use your user name (the part of your user ID to the left of the @ symbol).
What to do if you forget your password
If you forget your password, you must request a password reset from an Office 365 administrator. Your administrator can provide you with a new temporary password to use the next time you sign in.
If you forget your password and you are the only Office 365 administrator in your organization, you can reset your own password if you’ve previously provided an alternate email address and, for some administrators, a mobile phone number that can receive a text message. For information about resetting your own password, see Reset your administrator password.
Note
You need a mobile phone that can receive text messages for password reset only if one or both of the following applies to you:
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Your organization has a custom domain that you’ve set up to use with Office 365.
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Your Office 365 account is synchronized through directory synchronization.
For information about how to set up your administrator account with an alternate email address and mobile phone number, see Assigning administrator permissions.
If you haven’t provided an alternate email address or a mobile phone number (if required), contact Office 365 Support to reset your password.