How to disable Internet Explorer password caching

Warning

The retired, out-of-support Internet Explorer 11 desktop application has been permanently disabled through a Microsoft Edge update on certain versions of Windows 10. For more information, see Internet Explorer 11 desktop app retirement FAQ.

When you try to view a Web site that is protected with a password, you are prompted to type your security credentials in the Enter Network Password dialog box. If you click to select the Save this password in your password list check box in this dialog box, the computer saves your password so that you do not have to type the password again when you try to use the same document. This behavior is known as password caching. However, you may need to disable this feature. This article provides you the steps that you can follow to disable the password caching.

Original product version:   Internet Explorer
Original KB number:   229940

More Information

Important

This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, see How to back up and restore the registry in Windows.

To disable password caching, follow these steps:

  1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
  2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings
  3. On the Edit menu, click New, and then click DWORD Value.
  4. Type DisablePasswordCaching to name the new registry entry, and then press ENTER.
  5. Right-click DisablePasswordCaching, and then click Modify.
  6. Make sure that the Hexadecimal option button is selected, type 1 in the Value data box, and then click OK.
  7. Quit Registry Editor.

You can also disable password caching by using the Microsoft Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK) to create an executable file, and then attaching it as an add-in component. When you use this method, Setup adds the DisablePasswordCaching entry to the registry during the installation process.

Note

In some cases, you can create a custom .adm file to modify this registry key, and then import it into the IEAK Wizard.

To re-enable password caching, you can either delete the DisablePasswordCaching entry, or change its value to 0.