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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsTo change your own Ubuntu password, open Settings → System → Users, select the password control, enter your current password and the new password twice, then choose Change. In a terminal, run passwd. To change another local account, an administrator can run sudo passwd username; a forgotten password can therefore be reset without knowing the old one. Systems using Ubuntu’s authd identity flow have a separate recovery process.
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Choose the right Ubuntu password method
The correct procedure depends on four things: whether you have a graphical desktop or only a shell, whose account is being changed, whether the current password is known, and whether the account is local or managed through an identity service. Use this matrix before entering a command.
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| Situation | Recommended method | Required privilege | Old password required? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Change your own local password in a desktop session | Settings → System → Users | Your normal account access | Yes, when one is set |
| Change your own local password in a terminal | passwd |
Your normal account access | Yes, when one is set |
| Change another local user’s password | sudo passwd username, or the unlocked Users panel |
Administrator or superuser | No for the administrator’s reset |
| Forgot a local password but have administrator access | sudo passwd username |
Administrator or root | No |
| Forgot a local password on an authd-managed system | Begin a login through GDM or SSH, return to authentication-method selection, complete online authentication, then set a new local password | Access to the configured online identity | The old local password is not used in the recovery flow |
These procedures change a local Unix password. They do not automatically change a password held by an external identity provider unless that provider’s own authentication flow is completed.
How to change your own Ubuntu password in Settings
The graphical route is best when you are already signed in to Ubuntu’s desktop and want to change the password for that same local account.
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- Open Activities and search for Settings.
- Open Settings, then select System in the sidebar.
- Choose Users.
- Select the password control for your account.
- Enter your current password when prompted.
- Type the new password, then type it again in the confirmation field. Follow any password-policy feedback shown by Ubuntu.
- Click Change.
The change takes effect for the account’s next authentication. Existing sessions may remain signed in until they are locked, logged out, or otherwise asked to authenticate again.
What happens to the login keyring
Ubuntu’s desktop help states that when you update the login password, the login keyring password is automatically updated to match the new login password. This prevents the usual keyring from continuing to use the old login secret after a normal desktop password change.
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Make sure you selected your own account and that the Users panel is not still locked. An account managed by a remote identity service may not expose the same local-password controls as a purely local account. In that case, use the identity provider’s supported flow rather than trying to force a local change through the desktop panel.
How to change another user’s password in the Ubuntu desktop
Changing someone else’s password is an administrative operation. A normal user can change only that user’s own password.
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- Open Activities, search for Settings, and open it.
- Go to System → Users.
- Unlock the panel using an administrator credential when Ubuntu asks for authentication.
- Under Other Users, select the account you need to manage.
- Open that account’s password control.
- Enter a new password twice and choose Change.
An administrator reset does not require the target user’s old password. Tell the user the temporary or replacement password through a safe channel and have them change it again after signing in.
How to change your password with passwd
The terminal utility for a normal password change is simply passwd. Run it without a username when you are changing the account attached to your current shell:
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passwdThe utility normally follows this sequence:
- It asks for the current password when the account has one.
- It asks for the new password.
- It asks for the new password a second time.
- It checks the system’s password-aging and complexity rules and writes the approved change through the system authentication stack.
Nothing is printed while a terminal password is being entered on most Ubuntu shells—not even dots or asterisks. Type carefully and press Enter; the absence of visible characters is not, by itself, a failure.
Use a terminal safely
- Run
passwdfrom your own logged-in account for an ordinary self-service change. - Do not put a password directly in a command or shell script. The utility is designed to read it interactively.
- Check that your shell is on the Ubuntu system whose account you intend to modify, especially when connected over SSH.
- When a password is rejected, read the policy message instead of repeatedly guessing; repeated failures can trigger site-specific controls.
How an administrator changes another user’s password
An administrator can reset any local account with:
sudo passwd usernameReplace username with the account name, not the person’s full display name. sudo first authenticates the administrator who is running the command. passwd then asks for and confirms the replacement password for the target account. Because this is an administrative reset, the target user’s old password is not required.
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When to use a username-qualified command
Use the explicit form whenever you are managing a different account. Running plain passwd changes the account associated with the current user and is a common source of mistakes when an administrator is troubleshooting someone else’s login.
After a reset
A reset does not reveal the old password; it replaces it. Have the account owner sign in with the new value and then choose a private replacement. If the account is locked or expired, resolve that state separately using the administrative controls described below.
How to reset an Ubuntu password when you forgot the old one
You have another administrator account
For a local account, sign in with an administrator account and run:
sudo passwd usernameEnter the administrator’s password when sudo asks for it, then enter the new password for the account being recovered twice. This bypasses the forgotten old-password prompt because the superuser is authorized to set a replacement directly.
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You have no usable local administrator account
The command above requires administrative authorization. If every local administrator credential is unavailable, use your organization’s approved Ubuntu recovery procedure to regain administrative access first. Do not edit password databases by hand or copy entries between machines; doing so can leave permissions, hashing, or policy state inconsistent.
The machine uses authd
Ubuntu systems configured with authd use a distinct recovery path for a forgotten local password. Start a login through GDM (the graphical login manager) or SSH. At authentication-method selection, return to that selection screen, complete the online authentication flow configured for the system, and enter a new local password when prompted. This process uses the online identity to establish access and then creates the replacement local password; it is not the same as an administrator running passwd.
If the online authentication step is unavailable, contact the administrator of that identity service. A local passwd command cannot substitute for an unavailable remote identity provider.
Why Ubuntu rejects a new password
passwd applies the machine’s password-aging and complexity policy. The exact rules are site-dependent and are commonly supplied through PAM modules such as libpwquality, so Ubuntu does not have one universal minimum length or one universal list of forbidden patterns.
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- “New password is too simple” or similar: choose a longer, less predictable passphrase that satisfies the policy shown by the system.
- Confirmation mismatch: enter the same new value twice. Check keyboard layout, Caps Lock, and whether a terminal session is receiving keystrokes normally.
- Authentication failure for the old password: stop and verify that you are changing the intended account and that the old value is current. An administrator reset is required when it is genuinely forgotten.
- Permission denied: use your own account with plain
passwd, or obtain administrator authorization before usingsudo passwd username. - Account or policy-specific errors: ask the system administrator which PAM and aging rules apply; do not assume another Ubuntu installation has identical requirements.
Password expiry, forced changes, locking and unlocking
The same utility supports administrative lifecycle controls. These commands affect the named local account and normally require sudo.
| Purpose | Command | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Force a change at the next login | sudo passwd -e username |
Expires the password immediately so the user must choose a new one at the next authentication. |
| Set maximum password validity | sudo passwd -x MAX_DAYS username |
Sets the maximum number of days the password may remain valid. |
| Set an expiry warning period | sudo passwd -w WARN_DAYS username |
Warns the user the specified number of days before password expiry. |
| Lock password authentication | sudo passwd -l username |
Locks the account’s password authentication without deleting the account. |
| Unlock password authentication | sudo passwd -u username |
Unlocks a password that was locked with the password utility. |
Expiry and locking are different states. Expiry requires a new password; locking prevents password authentication until it is unlocked. Other login methods, account expiration settings, SSH policy, or an external identity provider can impose additional restrictions beyond these password flags.
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Ubuntu’s supported workflow is the passwd utility, whether it is launched directly or through the Settings panel. It passes the operation through PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules), allowing the system’s configured policy and account checks to run.
The relevant system files include:
/etc/passwd— account and identity records./etc/shadow— protected password hashes and password-aging data./etc/pam.d/passwd— PAM rules used during password changes.
Do not edit /etc/shadow manually. Hand-editing can corrupt hash formatting, permissions, or aging fields and can bypass policy checks. If a password change fails, diagnose the command output and the configured PAM policy instead.
Verify the change without exposing the password
There is no need to print or test a password in a script. Close the password dialog or terminal operation, lock the screen, or open a separate login session and authenticate normally. For an administrator reset, ask the affected user to sign in rather than requesting that they disclose the password.
Quick Recap
- Confirm that the intended username was used in an administrative command.
- Check that the account is not locked or expired if a correct new password still fails.
- For desktop users, confirm that the login keyring unlocks with the new login password; Ubuntu’s normal Settings workflow updates it automatically.
- For SSH, remember that the server may disable password authentication independently of the account’s password state.
Quick command reference
| Task | Command or path | Who should use it |
|---|---|---|
| Change your own password | passwd |
Signed-in user |
| Change your own password graphically | Activities → Settings → System → Users | Desktop user |
| Reset another local user | sudo passwd username |
Administrator |
| Force next-login change | sudo passwd -e username |
Administrator |
| Set maximum age | sudo passwd -x MAX_DAYS username |
Administrator |
| Set warning period | sudo passwd -w WARN_DAYS username |
Administrator |
| Lock a password | sudo passwd -l username |
Administrator |
| Unlock a password | sudo passwd -u username |
Administrator |
Common mistakes to avoid
- Running
passwdwhile intending to change a different account. Add the target username andsudo. - Assuming a password prompt is frozen because no characters appear. Terminal input is normally invisible.
- Assuming every Ubuntu installation enforces the same password complexity rule. PAM configuration can differ by site and image.
- Trying to recover a remote-identity account with only local-password commands. Follow the authd online authentication flow.
- Manually editing
/etc/shadowto work around an error. Use the supported utility and investigate policy or privilege problems. - Confusing password expiry with account locking. Use
-eto force a change and-l/-uto control password authentication.
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