Outlook 2016/O365 Always prompts for password Has been happening to one. The problem “Microsoft Outlook 2016 for Mac keeps asking for password” has. Nov 03, 2015  Setup Outlook 2016 with an Exchange account. Wait for the account to populate email. Go to Keychain Access and delete the Exchange entry. Reopen Outlook, and it will continuously prompt for the password even after entering the correct one and clicking the box to save in the keychain.

So, I was having this BRUTALLY annoying issue on my macs (when I work from home, I work on my mac) where, every time I launched Outlook 2016, I would be prompted to login with my credentials.. Just super annoying and unnecessary.

Theres a ton of documentation on 'how to fix this' but a lot of it misses an important step (also, a facepalm step).

6 Steps total

Step 1: Open the Keychain

Theres a bunch of ways to do it, but ultimately, the easiest way is to press CMD+Space, to open spotlight, then search 'Keychain Access'.

Step 2: Clear old items relating to Exchange/MS login in the keychain

According to a Microsoft Representative, the best option here is:

Make sure you quit Outlook and other Office apps.

Search 'Exchange' under Login --> All Items and delete everything (NOT EVERYTHING - take a look and make sure you're only deleting entries that are in some way related to Microsoft)

Bbc world service newshour theme music. Search 'Office' and delete everything
Search 'ADAL' and delete everything

Step 3: Open Outlook & Login

Yea, I know, we're trying to fix this - but you have to log in this ONE more time..

Step 4: Open Outlook Preferences from the menu

Click Outlook -> Preferences in the menu bar

Step 5: Open Accounts

Open the Accounts Section..

Step 6: Finally.. Add your password

Seriously - this is critical! Add your password in the password field for the account in question, then close the preferences window.

NOW - when you restart Outlook you SHOULD NOT have to login!

While this isn't the most difficult or pressing issue in the world, it most definitely is annoying! I hope this guide helps some folks!

References

• michaelkummer.com
• Microsoft TechNet Discussion

4 Comments

• Chipotle
  Tony Bongiorno Jul 19, 2017 at 06:07pm

  Thanks for posting. I've seen this quite a few times from multiple users

• Sonora
  TMagro Apr 8, 2019 at 07:45pm

  Tried and still not working for me. Box will not go away. :(

• Pimiento
  spicehead-pn1ix Jul 16, 2019 at 04:02pm

  Thanks for posting, but the login box still appears. A question -- when I searched Exchange, should I delete the Private Exchange Key (two of them) and Public Exchange Key (also two files)?

• Pimiento
  spicehead-xgxh2 Aug 6, 2019 at 06:33am

  still not working for me. I have 3 office 365 accounts, and every time I should enter the password 3 times for each account. It is really annoying