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sp-password-transact-sql.md

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title sp_password (Transact-SQL)
description sp_password adds or changes a password for a SQL Server login.
author VanMSFT
ms.author vanto
ms.reviewer randolphwest
ms.date 06/23/2025
ms.service sql
ms.subservice system-objects
ms.topic reference
f1_keywords
sp_password
sp_password_TSQL
helpviewer_keywords
sp_password
dev_langs
TSQL

sp_password (Transact-SQL)

[!INCLUDE SQL Server]

Adds or changes a password for a [!INCLUDE ssNoVersion] login.

Important

[!INCLUDE ssNoteDepFutureAvoid] Use ALTER LOGIN instead.

:::image type="icon" source="../../includes/media/topic-link-icon.svg" border="false"::: Transact-SQL syntax conventions

Syntax

sp_password
    [ [ @old = ] N'old' ]
    , [ @new = ] N'new'
    [ , [ @loginame = ] N'loginame' ]
[ ; ]

Arguments

[ @old = ] N'old'

The old password. @old is sysname, with a default of NULL.

[ @new = ] N'new'

The new password. @new is sysname, with no default. @old must be specified if named parameters aren't used.

Important

Don't use a NULL password. Use a strong password. For more information, see Strong Passwords.

[ @loginame = ] N'loginame'

The name of the login affected by the password change. @loginame is sysname, with a default of NULL. @loginame must already exist and can be specified only by members of the sysadmin or securityadmin fixed server roles.

Return code values

0 (success) or 1 (failure).

Remarks

sp_password calls ALTER LOGIN. This statement supports more options. For information on changing passwords, see ALTER LOGIN.

sp_password can't be executed within a user-defined transaction.

Permissions

Requires ALTER ANY LOGIN permission. Also requires CONTROL SERVER permission to reset a password without supplying the old password, or if the login that is being changed has CONTROL SERVER permission.

A principal can change its own password.

Examples

A. Change the password of a login without knowing the old password

The following example shows how to use ALTER LOGIN to change the password for the login Victoria to <password>. This method is preferred. The user that is executing this command must have CONTROL SERVER permission.

ALTER LOGIN Victoria WITH PASSWORD = '<password>';
GO

B. Change a password

The following example shows how to use ALTER LOGIN to change the password for the login Victoria from <password> to <new-password>. This method is preferred. User Victoria can execute this command without extra permissions. Other users require ALTER ANY LOGIN permission.

Replace <new-password> and <password> with strong passwords.

ALTER LOGIN Victoria WITH PASSWORD = '<new-password>' OLD_PASSWORD = '<password>';
GO

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