Windows 10: How to clear all Credentials from Credential Manager in Windows 10

At times, you may want to clear all credentials stored in the Credentials Manager; for example, when you’re having issues using your password on your Windows 10 device, but the password works on all your other devices. In this post, we show you how to clear all credentials from Credential Manager in Windows 10 using a Batch file.



Windows Credentials Manager is the place where your usernames and passwords, as well as other login details, are stored for later use in a digital library. This includes information for websites and apps, as well as network credentials.

Credentials are split into four categories viz:

• Windows Credentials – are used only by Windows and its services. For example, Windows can use these credentials to automatically log you into the shared folders of another computer on your network. It can also store the password of the Homegroup you have joined and uses it automatically each time you access what is being shared in that Homegroup. If you type a wrong log-in credential, Windows remembers it and fails to access what you need. If this happens, you can edit or remove the incorrect credential, as shown in later sections of this article.
• Certificate-Based Credentials – they are used together with smart cards, mostly in complex business network environments. Most people will never need to use such credentials and this section is empty on their computers.
• Generic Credentials – are defined and used by some of the apps you install in Windows so that they get the authorization to use certain resources. Examples of such apps include OneDrive, Slack, Xbox Network (formerly Xbox Live), etc.
• Web Credentials – they represent login information for websites that is stored by Windows, Skype, Internet Explorer or other Microsoft apps. They exist only in Windows 10 and Windows 8.1, but not in Windows 7.

Clear all credentials from Credential Manager


While you can individually clear or remove credentials, you can create this batch file sourced from Github and run it to clear all credentials from Credential Manager. Here’s how:

• Press Windows key + R to invoke the Run dialog.
• In the Run dialog box, type notepad and hit Enter to open Notepad.
• Copy and paste the code below into the text editor.

@Echo off
cmdkey.exe /list > "%TEMP%\List.txt"
findstr.exe Target "%TEMP%\List.txt" > "%TEMP%\tokensonly.txt"
FOR /F "tokens=1,2 delims= " %%G IN (%TEMP%\tokensonly.txt) DO cmdkey.exe /delete:%%H
del "%TEMP%\List.txt" /s /f /q
del "%TEMP%\tokensonly.txt" /s /f /q
echo All done
pause

• Save (to the desktop, preferably) the file with a name and append the .bat file extension – eg; ClearCREDS.bat and on the Save as type box select All Files.

To clear all credentials, simply run the batch file with admin privilege (right-click the saved file and select Run as Administrator from the context menu).

You can also schedule the batch file to run automatically in Windows 10 if you want.

That’s it!

Related post: How to Add, Backup, Restore User Credentials using Windows Vault.


This article How to clear all Credentials from Credential Manager in Windows 10 first appeared on TheWindowsClub.com.

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Credential Manager

Hi,

Credential Manager is one of Windows feature that will let you save credentials like usernames and passwords so that you can easily log in to a website or secure computers. We'd like to know the following so we can better assist you.

• Which build and version of Windows are you using? To check it, click
  Start, type winver, then press Enter.
  
• Are you making changes to Web Credentials or
  Windows Credentials?
• Did you make any changes prior to the issue?
• Is your account being managed by a domain?
• What troubleshooting steps have you done so far?

In order for us to resolve the issue, we need to make sure that the Credential Manager service and its Dependencies are started and working properly. As an initial troubleshooting to resolve the issue, kindly follow these steps:

• Press Windows key + R key, type inetcpl.cpl in
  Run dialog box and hit Enter.
• Under Internet Properties, click Content tab, then under
  AutoComplete select Settings.
• Under AutoComplete settings, clear all the checked entries, click
  OK and then reselect the entries as selected before and again click
  OK.
• Once done, restart your computer, then check if the issue persists.

Please post back with the result for further assistance.

 

Cannot clear network access credentials


OS: Windows 10 x64

I access a network server using a username + password. I'd like to use another username+password, but I cannot clear the old credentials. What I've done until now:

1. there was nothing to delete in Windows credentials (Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Credential Manager)
2. net use * /del
3. klist purge
4. restart explorer
5. restart PC
6. changed the password on the server, and saving NEW credentials on the PC. When I reverted back to original server password, the PC connected automatically (this makes me think that those credentials were saved somewhere, but I don't know where).

 

Windows Network Credentials

Hi Keith,

We suggest that you disable Credential Manager before mapping your Drives. Please follow these steps to disable Credential Manager:

• In the search box type “Services”
• Right click on “Services” and select “Run as Administrator”
• In the Services Window, look for Credential Manager Service and click “Stop”.
• Restart the computer and go back the Credential Manager Service and set it to “Automatic”.
• Restart the computer again.

Please keep us updated if you were able to map your drives.