How to Change Your Gmail Password

To change a Gmail password, open your Google Account settings, go to the Security section, and choose Password. Gmail does not have a password of its own: the password belongs to the entire Google Account, so changing it also changes how you sign in to Google Drive, Photos, YouTube, and any other Google service on that account.

You need your current password to make the change. If you cannot remember it, that is account recovery rather than a password change, and the steps are different.

Where do you change a Gmail password?

The setting lives in your Google Account, which you can reach from the company’s official website or by tapping your profile picture in Gmail and choosing to manage your Google Account. From there, open Security and find the Password entry.

The same page is used on a computer and on a phone, which is why the steps below barely differ between devices. If you are looking for a password setting inside Gmail's own preferences, you will not find one, and that is expected.

What do you need before changing your Gmail password?

• Your current Gmail password. Google asks for it before letting you set a new one.
• Access to your second-step method: your phone for a prompt, an authenticator app, a security key, or backup codes.
• A new password you have not used on any other account.
• A list of the devices and apps that sign in to this account, because they will all ask you to sign in again.
• Time to finish. Do not start this on a phone that is about to lose battery or on a device you are about to hand back.

How do you change your Gmail password step by step?

1. Open your Google Account settings and sign in if you are asked to.
2. Select Security from the menu.
3. Choose Password under the heading for signing in to Google.
4. Enter your current password to confirm it is really you, and complete the second-step check if one appears.
5. Type the new password, then type it again in the confirmation field.
6. Select the button to change the password and wait for the confirmation message.
7. Open Gmail on your main device and sign in again with the new password to confirm it works before you walk away.

How do you change a Gmail password on an Android phone?

On Android the account settings are built into the system, so you do not need a browser. Open Settings, tap Google, then tap Manage your Google Account, choose Security, and select Password. From there the steps match the list above.

Watch for one thing afterwards. Other Google apps on the phone may show a notification asking you to sign in again. Tap it and complete the sign-in rather than dismissing it, otherwise mail stops syncing quietly and you only notice hours later that nothing new has arrived.

How do you change a Gmail password on an iPhone or iPad?

On an iPhone, open the Gmail app, tap your profile picture in the corner, choose to manage your Google Account, then open Security and select Password. You can also do it in Safari by signing in to your Google Account and going to the same Security section.

If you also added the account to the built-in Mail app on the iPhone, that copy of the account keeps its own stored credentials. After changing the password, open Settings, find the mail accounts section, and sign in again there too, or the built-in Mail app will keep reporting an error while the Gmail app works fine.

What happens to your other devices after you change your Gmail password?

Changing the password signs the account out in most places that were using the old one. Expect to sign in again on every phone, tablet, and computer, and inside any third-party mail program that collects your Gmail.

Two categories deserve attention. Smart speakers, televisions, and printers that were signed in to the account will need attention, and they usually fail silently rather than telling you. And if you use an older mail program that connects with an app password, that app password stops working, so you have to generate a new one in the security settings and paste it into the program.

What if you cannot remember your current Gmail password?

Then you need account recovery, not the password change screen. Start from the sign-in page, enter your email address, and choose the option for forgetting the password.

Recovery works best when you do it from a device and a location you have used before, because Google weighs familiar signals. Answer as many prompts as you can rather than skipping to the last one, use a recovery phone or email that you still control, and if you are asked when the account was created, give your best estimate rather than abandoning the form.

Do not create a new account as a workaround if the old one holds anything important. Once you set up a replacement, recovery of the original becomes far harder to complete.

Why does Gmail refuse the new password you typed?

• It is too short or too simple. Google enforces a minimum length and rejects obvious choices.
• It is a password already used on this account before.
• The two fields do not match, often because of an autocorrected capital letter on a phone keyboard.
• A password manager filled the old value into the new field without you noticing.
• The session timed out while you were away from the screen, so start again from the Security page.

What should you do if you think someone else changed your Gmail password?

Act in order and quickly. Run account recovery first, and if you regain access, open the Security section and review the list of devices signed in to the account, then sign out any you do not recognize.

After that, check the Gmail settings for forwarding rules and filters, because someone who takes an account often sets mail to forward elsewhere or to auto-delete alerts. Check the recovery phone number and recovery email as well, since those are commonly changed to lock the real owner out. Then set a new password and turn on two-step verification if it was not already on.