I don’t have your password
There are more reasons for forgetting a password than there are reasons for having one. Some passwords you may need:
- A password to send and receive e-mail.
- A password to protect a presentation, spreadsheet, or other Office document.
- A password for your Personal Folders (.pst) file (you know, the one that contains the backups of all your e-mail, Contacts, and Calendar items. The one I've been encouraging you to create?)
- A password to get you into the cave where a magical lamp is waiting for you to gently rub it so the genie who inhabits it can come out and grant you three wishes.
The very basic basics
When you start Outlook for the first time and set up your e-mail account, Outlook asks you whether you want to save your password so that you don't have to enter it every time you want to send or receive your e-mail. There are both good and bad things about doing this:
The good You won't have to enter your password each time. This saves you time and finger use.
The bad If you don't enter your password each time, chances are you will forget it and then one day, when something goes terribly wrong and you actually have to enter your password, you won't be able to and then you will blame me.
So…what to do? This conundrum branches out to many other instances when passwords are needed.
So many passwords…
Now, I know that we all have a lot of number combinations to remember: The PIN to get money from the magic cash machine; home, office, and cell phone numbers; security codes for our home, car, or daycare center; and the list goes much further on.... It's a wonder we can manage to remember our gym locker combinations.
Starting with Outlook: If you're smart (and I know you are), when you signed up for an e-mail account with your Internet service provider (ISP), you chose a really strong e-mail password that only you could know. However, if you're smart and busy, perhaps that password dropped out of your pretty little head (along with the middle name of your youngest child) after bonking your head at Saturday night's Chute Doggin’ event at the National Western Stock Show. And now, of course, if you can't remember your password, you can't get your e-mail; and if you can't get your e-mail, you're not going to be able to write your mother-in-law and ask her about that kid's elusive middle name. (Then again, you could look on the bright side of things: no more e-mail means no more spam!)
Here's the thing: Unless you've written the password down or it spontaneously comes to you tomorrow while you're at yoga class doing sirsha-asana (the headstand pose), there isn't any real way to retrieve it. It's gone, pal; get over it and move on to the next one. Chances are, you'll have to call the company you pay to give you access to your e-mail — your ISP — and reset your password. After that's taken care of, you'll need to update Outlook with your new e-mail account password. Then write it down and put it in a safe place, will you?
And just to give you an idea about how many of you are having password issues, take a look at the little video I did (yes—that’s me!) that addresses this issue:
(Click to play)
More information:
Crabby answers your question about lost passwords:
For more information about passwords, please visit my column Crabby doesn't have your password on Office Online
-- Crabby
