Password prompt

[gcell]

I’ve been using Office 365 for a while now. Starting about a month and a half ago, every time I open an Office app, it prompts me for my account password. This happens for all Office apps except for Outlook.

If I have a copy of an app already open, then I am usually not prompted if I open another copy (though occasionally yes). If no copy is open, then I am invariably prompted. If an app is open (e.g., Excel), then I am still prompted for a password if I open another app (like Word).

If I am not connected to the internet, I am not prompted for the password.

I have sent a message to Office, to which I received no response.

I also chatted with on-line support. The assistant took over my computer and could not reproduce the problem. She gave me advice on what to do if it recurred (which it did as soon as she finished). The “solution” provoked a huge problem that I had to fix, but it did not resolve the issue.

Does anyone know what can be done? Thanks!

[#2]

Hello gcell,

Have you tried reinstalling office? Download the "Office" application from the store (it is a office dashboard like thing). If you did, try open the apps from the Office Dashboard.

What windows version are your running?

[#3]

@reneyagmur 

Hi Rene,

Thank you for taking the time to help.

I haven’t tried to reinstall Office… I have been desperately avoiding it so that I will not lose all of my customization. If necessary in the end, I will do it.

The Office Dashboard that I have installed (the orange background with a white window) opens everything in OneDrive. It doesn’t offer the option of opening in the Desktop version.

Finally, I’m running what is supposed to be the most recent version of Windows 10: Home 1909 v. 18363.535.

Again, thanks.

Greg

[#4]

@gcell Open the credential manager (https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/4026814/windows-accessing-credential-manager), under generic credentials locate your office/microsoft login. Click on remove, restart your pc and then log in to your office account.

[#5]

Hi again, @reneyagmur, and thanks again for helping.

Unfortunately, the suggestion didn't work. I experimented a couple of ways with the idea, and the problem persists.

Now, for the second time in two weeks, my Office icons in the Start menu are showing up faded with a black line underneath. The previous time I looked for and installed Windows 10 updates and it resolved. This time, no updates show up. It's very frustrating.

Greetings.

[#6]

@gcell 

 This typically happens when the user selects the Keep me signed-in check box. For federated user accounts, the user name and passwords are not saved. This is because Integrated Windows Authentication can be used, which does not require the password. For a third-party federated identity provider that does not support Integrated Windows Authentication, the password is not available from CredMan, and therefore it must be prompted for.

Here is the fix that you can try

1. Start Registry Editor.

2. Navigate to the following registry subkey:

   Office 2016

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Identity

   Office 2013

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Common\Identity

3. Right-click the entry, and then select New.

4. Add a new DWORD value to the registry called NoDomainUser, and then set it to a value of 1.

The registry entry alters the behavior for a federated user account so that the password is saved in CredMan.

[#7]

Hello gcell,

This sounds strange. Are you logged on on your machine with a local or a microsoft account?

[#8]

@Akshay_Mane Thanks Akshay. I did as you suggested the day you sent the message. Unfortunately, no improvement.

[#9]

@reneyagmur It's very strange, indeed. And very frustrating. I am logged on the computer with the same Microsoft Account. And it is the corresponding password that is always requested to log into the Office apps. The baffling thing is that it started out of the blue, perhaps two months ago, after never having the problem before. Also strange is that that when the apps open, they already show my account name in the right-hand corner as if I were already logged in. Furthermore, the Outlook app, which opens automatically on start up, never asks for a password.

[#10]

@reneyagmur @Akshay_Mane

Just an update… There’s good news and bad news.

I tried all of the suggestions offered here, but none solved the problem. I had decided to do a complete reinstall when time permitted, but I hadn’t yet gotten around to it.

About three days ago, when I started the computer first thing in the morning, Office 365 Outlook (which opens automatically) gave an error message that there was a problem with the user account. This has happened a few times in the past. After trying to log in manually without success, I rebooted the computer. This time, Outlook opened up normally in my account.

Lo and behold, I was also able to use Excel and Word without entering my password. I am still able to do so. My fingers are crossed that the issue resolved itself and will not return.

So, the good news is that the problem is solved. The bad news is that I have no idea what happened to solve it. I did nothing.

At any rate, I appreciate the help offered by @Rene30 and @Akshay_Mane in my dilemma.