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How to tell when your Windows login password is going to expire

How to tell when your Windows login password is going to expire

Sept 28, 2016

Windows login passwords expire every 6 months and you should receive a notification approximately three weeks before they expire.  If you spend a lot of time out of the office, or work remotely, you may not get those prompts.  You can easily check, though, to see when the password is going to expire.


If you expect to be out of the office when your password expires, change your password before you leave the PATH office. Changing an expired password while not on a PATH network can be very difficult and time-consuming.

If you receive a notification that your password will expire soon:

make sure not to ignore it, especially if you will be traveling within that time-frame.

Step-by-step Guide


Checking your password's expiration date

  1. If you're running Windows 7, go to Start and type cmd in the Search programs and files field.  Then press Enter.
  2. If you're running Windows 8, right-click the Start button, click Run, and type cmd.

  3. At the Command Prompt type:

    net user /domain %username%

    and press Enter.  See the first line in the image below for an example.

  4. This will display your account information, including when you last changed your password, and when it expires, as shown below in red.



    (Click the image to enlarge it)

You must be in a PATH office or connect to SSL-VPN to run this command successfully.

Changing your password

If your password is expiring soon, you can change it by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete and clicking Change Password.  Enter your current password and then a new password and then confirm the new password.  For more information on changing your password, please see our FAQ Changing your Windows login password.