Outlook or Teams Says Need Password on Windows

Match the Need Password screen

This guide is for Windows desktop Outlook or Teams that keep asking you to authenticate even though the password is correct and Office on the web still works.

The screen Microsoft names is **Need Password**. It can appear in Classic Outlook's status bar with no click. New Outlook may instead show **You'll need to sign in again** after you open a message, then look fine until the next click.

Microsoft also documents Web Account Manager (WAM) error **-2147024809** on `FindAllAccountsAsync` in Microsoft Entra or Microsoft 365 client logs. You do not need that log line to try the steps. If you have it, you are on the documented failure.

A different window, **A required authentication broker is missing**, is related WAM damage. It is not the first match for Need Password.

This is not a reason to treat the mailbox as deleted, to change the account password first, or to decide whether a charge is legitimate. Stay on the Windows sign-in repair.

Run the official sign-in troubleshooter

Microsoft's article leads with the Microsoft 365 Sign-in troubleshooter. Use it before PowerShell if you can. It is meant to diagnose and automatically fix several common Microsoft 365 sign-in issues.

If the troubleshooter cannot run, or Outlook still shows Need Password when it finishes, continue with the package commands. Closing and reopening Outlook alone can hide the bar for a few minutes. That is not the documented repair.

Re-register the official WAM packages

Microsoft's cause is missing package information for ADAL (work accounts) or Live ID (personal accounts). The documented repair is to re-register the Windows system app package in an elevated PowerShell window.

Right-click Start, open **Windows PowerShell (Admin)** or **Terminal (Admin)**, and accept User Account Control.

Work or school account:

```powershell if (-not (Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin)) { Add-AppxPackage -Register "$env:windir\SystemApps\Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin_cw5n1h2txyewy\Appxmanifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode -ForceApplicationShutdown } Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin ```

Personal Outlook.com or Hotmail account:

```powershell if (-not (Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Windows.CloudExperienceHost)) { Add-AppxPackage -Register "$env:windir\SystemApps\Microsoft.Windows.CloudExperienceHost_cw5n1h2txyewy\Appxmanifest.xml" -DisableDevelopmentMode -ForceApplicationShutdown } Get-AppxPackage Microsoft.Windows.CloudExperienceHost ```

Those `if (-not ...)` checks only register a package Windows says is missing. If `Get-AppxPackage` already prints a package, the official command will not reinstall it. In that case use the token-cache step below.

Microsoft says that after a successful command you may see a short progress indicator or a status result for the package. Then fully quit Outlook and Teams and sign in once.

Do not paste these commands into a machine you do not administer. Organization-managed PCs may already pin WAM through Intune or image policy; if a policy blocks AppX registration, stop and use your IT channel instead of forcing the package.

Clear the local token cache if the package is already there

When New Outlook keeps saying **You'll need to sign in again** even though the account works in the browser, Microsoft Q&A staff have pointed at a stale device token cache rather than a missing package: `Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin`, OneAuth, TokenBroker, and IdentityCache under the user profile.

That cache-clear is **community confirmed**, not the official Need Password resolution. Close Outlook, Teams, and OneDrive first. Then delete or rename:

• `%LocalAppData%\Packages\Microsoft.AAD.BrokerPlugin_*`
• `%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\OneAuth`
• `%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\TokenBroker`
• `%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\IdentityCache`

Restart Windows, sign in, then sign in to Outlook or Teams once. Windows rebuilds those folders. If mail is worse afterward, restore any folder you renamed.

Do not clear these folders to chase a one-time password prompt after you changed the account password on purpose. That is a different event.

What not to assume

Microsoft's article applies to Windows 10 version 1703 or later and Microsoft 365 version 1807 or later. It does not say every password prompt is WAM.

Skip these as first moves:

• Changing the Microsoft 365 password, unless you already know it was rotated.
• Removing the Exchange Online license or shared-mailbox permissions.
• Rebuilding the Outlook profile before the package and cache steps, unless your admin standard requires a new profile.
• Treating a working Office on the web session as proof the desktop loop is "fixed."

If `dsregcmd /status` shows `AzureAdPrt` as NO on a work-joined PC, that is a Primary Refresh Token problem. Microsoft documents it separately. It can produce repeated prompts, but it is not the Need Password package-missing article.

Verify the result

After the troubleshooter, package command, or cache clear:

• Classic Outlook no longer sits on **Need Password** through a send/receive cycle.
• New Outlook can open a message in the preview pane without **You'll need to sign in again**.
• Teams stays signed in after a restart of the app.

If the bar returns within a few hours, you have not verified a durable repair. Collect the exact sentence on screen, whether it is work or personal, Outlook build, Windows version, and whether Office on the web still works, then take that to Microsoft 365 support or your admin. Do not send passwords.