Resetting your Office 365 Password

Forgot your Office365 password, or just need to change it? This step-by-step guide will lead you through the process. Shore up your O365 security with a password change or reset.

November 20, 2020
Valiant Technology
5 min

Knowing how to reset your password is a key part of security best practices. You may need to do so if you account has been compromised, or if you need to change the password given to you when you started. This guide goes through the steps for Office 365 users.

How to change your password when you know your current password

Access your password security settings through office.com in any web browser.

If your company has self service password reset configured, you will be able to follow this link directly to the password reset page and/or bookmark it for later. (This applies to Valiant Launchpad and Valiant Anywhere users.)

https://account.activedirectory.windowsazure.com/ChangePassword.aspx

If you know your old password, you can enter it on this page and then type in a new password.

However, if you wish to navigate there on your own in the future, start at the office.com homepage. Click your circular icon in the upper right-hand corner of the page and select “account settings.”

My icon is an illustration but yours may be your picture or your initials.

From there you can click password in the left-hand menu.

Password settings has its own section in the account settings menu.

Then, you will be prompted to enter your current password followed by your new password as pictured above. Remember to follow password security best practices when choosing a new password.

Once submitted, your password change will take effect.

How to reset a forgotten password

Resetting a password you have forgotten has a few more steps than the above. It is important that you have already established at least two verification methods on your account such as a cell phone, alternate email, and/or security questions. These are located in the security info section of your account settings.

In the security info settings you can add or edit your various verification methods.

If you are not already logged in, click the “can’t access your account?” link on the sign in page. Alternatively, you can click “forgot password” on the next prompt, and it will bring you to the same reset page.

The sign in prompts give you options if you don’t remember your password.

If you are logged in, you can reach the rest page by going to https://passwordreset.microsoftonline.com/

Enter your username. Include the domain for your email, for example username@rustandpaint.com. Then complete the captcha.

If you are a robot and unable to pass the captcha test, contact your administrator for support.

You will be asked why you cannot get into your account. Select “I forgot password”.

Then select the first verification method. To demonstrate, we will use an alternate email address.

You can use any of the methods listed for your first verification as long as you have set them up previously.

Many methods will give you a code which you will have to enter on the next page. (Security questions are an exception and the next page would prompt you with a question.)

A six digit code was sent to an alternate email and then entered in the space provided.

After that, you will be required to provide a second verification for security purposes. In this next example, a code will be sent to a cell phone.

You have to verify your mobile phone number before a text will be sent.

Once again, enter the code and click next.

Enter in the six digit code texted to your cell phone.

This will bring you to a page to enter in a new password. Be sure to enter something that follows best practices. Once you submit, your password will be changed.

Enter a secure password to reduce the risk of a breach on your account.

Sign back into your apps

Most of your Office 365 apps will automatically sign you out when you change your password. If the password is changed because of a breach, you should go back to your security info page in account settings and force a sign out of your account on all devices.

You can reach this page as directed in the first section through your account settings.

Whether or not you force logouts, you should take a minute to log back into your Teams and Outlook apps to prevent any delays in notifications.

Log back into your apps, starting with any that provide real time notifications and communication.

Additionally, we recommend opening your OneDrive application to ensure syncing is uninterrupted. You can access this in the right of the taskbar, or just use the search bar or start menu.

Just opening the OneDrive app will prompt you to log back in.

For other apps, such as Word or Planner, you can enter your new password when prompted. Some apps such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint will only require you to log into one of them. If you are not prompted for an Office app, locate the account settings in that app. In the example below, just click file, scroll down to account, and click to login.

This page is located after clicking the file tab on your open document and then the account button darklighted at the bottom of this menu.

If your account is domain bound, this will usually change your computer login password as well. (This applies to Valiant Anywhere and Valiant Launchpad users). However, this change may not take place in certain circumstances, such as you are working remotely and you are not bound to a cloud domain. If this occurs, contact your IT department for the best way to make this change apply to both your email and your computer login. This is especially important if the password change was prompted by a security breach.

Close any open doors that may exist to your account.

There are many best practices when it comes to password security. Knowing how to reset your password is essential to reducing damage caused by a breach or just maintaining access to your accounts. If you want to learn more about password security including multi-factor verification, visit our knowledgebase for more how to articles.