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User Query:
“We are working with Exchange Server 2013, managed by our Exchange administrator, who recently left our company. Now, the management wants to change the passwords of Exchange user mailboxes. I am not an expert with Exchange Server and am now bound by the responsibility to do it. Can you please help me reset the mailbox password in the Exchange Server?”
Sometimes, the user forgets their Exchange mailbox’s password and cannot reset the password themselves. Luckily, the Exchange administrator can use various methods to reset respective mailbox passwords and give the user control again. If you’re struggling to find reliable solutions to do that, we are going to discuss the different methods to reset the passwords of Exchange mailboxes.
Resetting mailbox password from AD users and computers
Administrators can easily reset the passwords of Exchange mailboxes from Active Directory Users and Computers. Let us look at the general steps required for resetting the mailbox password:
- In the AD server of Exchange, open Active Directory Users and Computers.
- Click on the Users option to view the list of users.
- Select the Exchange mailbox whose password you want to reset and right-click on it. Select the Reset password option from the list.
- A dialogue box named Reset Password gets opened. In this, enter a new password (as per the password complexity requirements), confirm the new password by typing it again, select the checkbox (if required), and click OK.
- The mailbox password is reset and confirmed with a message.
Resetting mailbox password from Exchange Admin Center
There is another way to change the passwords of Exchange mailboxes, i.e., using the Exchange Admin Center. But the Reset password option is disabled by default. So, you must enable this option in settings. Before enabling it, users should run these commands one after the other in PowerShell.
- Add-PSSnapin Microsoft
- Install-CannedRbacRoles
- Install-CannedRbacRoleAssignments
How to enable the ‘Reset Password’ option in EAC?
- Login to Exchange Admin Center, go to Permissions>Organization Management and click Edit.
- In the Organization Management page, click + option under the Roles section (to add a new role).
- Now select the Reset Password from the provided list, click the add option, and then click Save.
- Once the changes are saved, sign out from the Exchange Admin Center and log in again.
Now, when you select a user mailbox and click Edit to view its properties, you will find the Reset Password option. Here, you can set a new password for the mailbox and save it for the next login. 
Common Issues When Resetting Exchange Mailbox Password
- Your account may stop receiving emails within native email applications on your smartphones, creating issues in synchronization.
- Due to the inability to access the standalone login, assigning a password to shared mailboxes can cause security breaches.
- Legacy devices with old accounts’ login often authenticate the accounts’ access with old passwords only, which can lock the account permanently.
- When Outlook stores old credentials, it fails to connect using the updated credentials even if the application consistently prompts to enter the password.
Resetting the passwords will help you access mailboxes that have become inaccessible due to loss of passwords. However, if mailboxes are inaccessible due to EDB file corruption or server crashes, you need to use an Exchange database recovery tool.
The professional software for Exchange data recovery is helpful here. Kernel for Exchange Server restores any kind of inaccessible Exchange data safely to the desired destination location. It is the best solution for accessing the Exchange data after corruption.
Concluding Thoughts
The manual methods will help you in resetting the forgotten or older passwords of your Exchange account. Once you reset the password, enter the correct password to sign in. If the mailbox is still showing errors, there can be corruption in the Exchange database. Resolve the EDB file corruption using the EDB to PST Converter, as the native methods will not help you.
To fix the corruption, you can use the recommended Kernel for Exchange Server software. It helps you scan and repair the corrupt Exchange database easily. After recovering data, you can choose your mailbox and save it in the PST file.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ans. This can be because your organization has implemented rules that restrict changing the mailbox password, or you do not have the required administrator access.
Ans. To change the password, login and go to your account on Microsoft. Tap on Security > Change Password. Provide you existing and then new password. Click Save to finish.
