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Reset a Live@edu User's Password with Windows PowerShell

Applies to: Live@edu

Topic Last Modified: 2011-10-27

As an e-mail administrator, you probably receive lots of requests from users to help them retrieve a forgotten password or to unblock or unlock an account. Unfortunately, you can't retrieve a forgotten password, but you can reset the password to a new value for the user.

Reset a password?

Resetting a password isn't the same as changing a password. If a user can remember their old password, they can change it themselves, but if the original password is lost, an administrator has to reset the password to a new value. After you reset the password, it's a good idea to advise the user to change the password to something that only they know and will remember. Users can change their own password at http://login.live.com. Make sure to remind them to follow the Password Guidelines.

How do you reset a password or unblock an account for a user? The Exchange Control Panel is the preferred method. For more information, see Reset a User's Password.

Here we explain how to use Windows PowerShell to reset a password and force the user to update their password the next time they sign in to their account. Forcing the user to update their password is required to unblock or unlock their account.

Before you begin

To learn how to install and configure Windows PowerShell and connect to the service, see Use Windows PowerShell in Exchange Online.

Reset the password and force the user to update their password the next time they sign in

Run the following command.

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Set-Mailbox <Windows Live ID> -Password (ConvertTo-SecureString -String '<password>' -AsPlainText -Force) -ResetPasswordOnNextLogon $true

For example, to reset the password of the user "tamarajohnston@contoso.edu" to Pa$$word1 and to force Tamara to change her password after she signs in, run the following command.

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Set-Mailbox tamarajohnston@contoso.edu -Password (ConvertTo-SecureString -String 'Pa$$word1' -AsPlainText -Force) -ResetPasswordOnNextLogon $true

Troubleshooting

You may encounter the following issue when you try to reset a user's password:

You don't have the necessary permissions to reset a user's password. Regional restrictions may prevent Microsoft from giving you this ability.
The password you created doesn't meet the account requirements. Make sure that you follow the Password Guidelines.