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Quick Answer

Click the Start button, type Credential Manager, select Windows Credentials, and remove all credentials starting with MicrosoftOffice16 to clear the broken login cache.

How to Fix Microsoft 365 Apps Not Signing In — Stuck at "Connecting" or "Need Password" ​

Applies to: Microsoft 365 Apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneDrive, Teams), Windows 10, Windows 11
Article Type: Troubleshooting
Last Updated: 2026-06-17

Summary ​

This article covers what to do when multiple Microsoft 365 apps stop recognizing your sign-in at the same time — Word shows a yellow warning banner, Excel displays "Account Error," Outlook keeps asking for your password, OneDrive shows "Sign in," and Teams logs you out. These steps resolve the most common cause (stale cached credentials) and require no admin rights.

Prerequisites ​

Instructions ​

1. Sign Out and Sign Back In to Office ​

The fastest fix for a credential mismatch is to sign out of all Office apps at once and sign back in with a fresh token.

  1. Open any Office app (Word, Excel, or PowerPoint).
  2. Click your account icon (profile picture or initials) in the top-right corner.
  3. Click Sign out or Switch account > Sign out.
  4. Close all Office apps — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
  5. Reopen any Office app. You will see a sign-in prompt.
  6. Sign in with your work email address and password.
  7. Complete MFA if prompted (approve the Authenticator notification or enter the code).
  8. Once signed in, open the other Office apps — they should pick up the new credentials automatically.
  9. If the sign-in prompt reappears after a few minutes or the apps still show errors, continue to Step 2.

2. Remove Cached Credentials from Windows Credential Manager ​

Windows stores sign-in tokens for Microsoft 365 in Credential Manager. If these tokens become corrupted or outdated (e.g., after a password change), Office apps cannot authenticate — even if you type the correct password.

  1. Close all Office apps, OneDrive, and Teams.
  2. Press the Start key, type Credential Manager, and press Enter.
  3. Click Windows Credentials.
  4. Look for entries that start with MicrosoftOffice, msteams, OneDrive, or contain login.microsoftonline.com or your organization's domain.
  5. Click each matching entry to expand it, then click Remove.
  6. Repeat for all Microsoft-related entries. It is safe to remove these — Office apps will create new credentials when you sign back in.
  7. Open an Office app (Word or Excel). You will be prompted to sign in with your work email.
  8. Sign in, complete MFA, and verify that the yellow warning banner is gone.
  9. If the problem persists, continue to Step 3.

3. Disconnect and Reconnect Your Work Account in Windows Settings ​

Windows maintains a connection between your device and your organization's directory (Azure AD / Entra ID). If this connection breaks, all Microsoft 365 apps lose their single sign-on at once.

  1. Open Settings (press Win + I).
  2. Go to Accounts > Access work or school.
  3. Find your work account (it shows your work email address and organization name).
  4. Click it to expand, then click Disconnect.
  5. Confirm the disconnection when prompted.
  6. Restart your computer.
  7. After restart, go back to Settings > Accounts > Access work or school.
  8. Click Connect and sign in with your work email and password.
  9. Complete MFA if prompted.
  10. Open Word, Excel, or Outlook and verify the sign-in error is resolved.
  11. If you do not see your work account under Access work or school, or if you cannot disconnect it, skip to Step 4 — the account may be managed by your IT department.

4. Clear the Office Identity Cache ​

Office apps maintain their own identity cache separate from Windows Credential Manager. Clearing it forces Office to re-authenticate from scratch.

  1. Close all Office apps completely.
  2. Press Win + R to open the Run dialog.
  3. Type %localappdata%\Microsoft\IdentityCache\ and press Enter.
  4. A File Explorer window opens showing cache folders. Select all contents (Ctrl + A) and delete them.
  5. Press Win + R again, type %localappdata%\Microsoft\OneAuth\ and press Enter.
  6. If this folder exists, select all contents and delete them.
  7. Open any Office app. You will be prompted to sign in fresh.
  8. Sign in with your work email, complete MFA, and test across multiple apps.

5. Verify Your Account on the Web ​

Before continuing with deeper troubleshooting, confirm that your account works outside of desktop apps. This helps determine whether the issue is on your computer or with your account.

  1. Open your browser and go to https://portal.office.com.
  2. Sign in with your work email and password.
  3. If you can sign in and see your apps: Your account is fine — the issue is local to your computer. Continue to Step 6.
  4. If you cannot sign in, see an error, or your account is locked: The issue is with your account, not your computer. See How to Reset Your Microsoft 365 Password When You Are Locked Out or contact IT.

6. Repair Your Office Installation ​

If credential clearing did not help, Office program files related to authentication may be corrupted.

  1. Close all Office apps.
  2. Press the Start key, type Installed Apps, and press Enter.
  3. Search for Microsoft 365 (or Office).
  4. Click the … (three dots) next to it and select Modify.
  5. Select Quick Repair and click Repair. This takes 5–10 minutes.
  6. Open an Office app and test the sign-in.
  7. If the problem continues, repeat the process and select Online Repair instead. Online Repair takes 15–30 minutes, requires internet, and replaces all Office components.

7. Re-Authenticate OneDrive Separately ​

OneDrive uses its own authentication flow. Even after fixing Office apps, OneDrive may need a separate sign-in reset.

  1. Click the OneDrive cloud icon in the system tray (bottom-right corner of the taskbar).
  2. Click the gear icon > Settings.
  3. Go to the Account tab.
  4. Click Unlink this PC.
  5. Confirm when prompted. OneDrive will show the setup screen.
  6. Sign in with your work email, select your OneDrive folder location, and follow the setup wizard.
  7. OneDrive will re-sync your files. No files are lost — they remain on the server and in your local OneDrive folder.

8. Re-Authenticate Teams Separately ​

Teams has its own credential store. If Teams still shows sign-in errors after the other apps are fixed, clear its cache.

  1. Close Teams completely — right-click the Teams icon in the system tray and select Quit.
  2. Press Win + R, type %appdata%\Microsoft\Teams and press Enter.
  3. Delete the contents of the following folders (if they exist): Cache, blob_storage, databases, GPUCache, Local Storage.
  4. Reopen Teams and sign in with your work email.
  5. If Teams still fails, go to https://teams.microsoft.com in your browser to verify web access works while the desktop issue is being resolved.

9. When to Contact IT ​

Contact your IT helpdesk if:

  • You cannot sign in to https://portal.office.com — your account may be locked, disabled, or your password may have been reset by an administrator.
  • You see errors mentioning Conditional Access, Compliance, or Device not registered — these are organizational policies that only IT can adjust.
  • The problem started after IT made changes to your account, your MFA methods, or your device enrollment.
  • You do not see your work account under Settings > Accounts > Access work or school and the Connect button produces an error.
  • Disconnecting and reconnecting the work account (Step 3) is blocked or produces an error about device management policies.
  • Multiple colleagues are experiencing the same sign-in failure simultaneously — this suggests a service outage or policy change.

Troubleshooting ​

DANGER

If you recently changed your password or updated your MFA methods, the most common fix is Step 2 (clearing Credential Manager). Office apps cache the old credentials and will reject the new password until the cache is cleared.

Symptom / ErrorPotential CauseSolution
Yellow banner: "There's a problem with your account"Stale cached credentialsSign out and back in (Step 1). If it recurs, clear Credential Manager (Step 2).
"We are unable to connect right now"Broken work account connectionDisconnect and reconnect work account (Step 3).
Outlook shows "Disconnected" or "Need Password"Expired authentication tokenClear Credential Manager (Step 2) and Office identity cache (Step 4).
"Your account doesn't allow editing on a Mac or PC"License not recognized after credential issueSign out, clear credentials (Step 2), sign back in. If still failing, check license at portal.office.com.
OneDrive shows grey icon or "Sign in" notificationOneDrive lost its authenticationUnlink and relink OneDrive (Step 7).
Teams keeps signing out or shows "Sign in to another account"Corrupted Teams credential cacheClear Teams cache (Step 8).
Sign-in works on the web but not on desktopLocal credential or Office corruptionClear identity cache (Step 4) and run Online Repair (Step 6).
Problem started after a password changeOld password cached in Credential ManagerClear Credential Manager entries (Step 2) — this is the most common cause.
"Something went wrong" with error code ending in 1001, 1002, or 700WAM (Web Account Manager) token issueDisconnect/reconnect work account (Step 3) and clear identity cache (Step 4).