Friends who login with Windows accounts on FCS-managed Windows or Mac computers are now required to change account passwords once a year, or every 365 days. On August 24th, 2026 you will be prompted for a new password change upon your next login to a Windows or Mac computer, which cannot be skipped. Follow the guides below on what to expect on the day of August 24th, and how to reset your password before the deadline.
Guides:
Changing Your Password on August 24th
Changing Your Password Anytime
(you have the option to change your password now or anytime)
When creating your new password, it must meet the following criteria:
Must not contain your account name, or any part of your name that exceeds two consecutive characters.
Be at least 12 characters in length, but we strongly recommend 16 or more characters.
Contain characters from three of the following four categories:
– English uppercase characters (A through Z)
– English lowercase characters (a through z)
– Base 10 digits (0 through 9)
– Special characters and symbols found on the keyboard, like: !, $, #, %, or –
Helpful tips for secure passwords that are easy to remember:
Our recommendation is to use 3 or more dictionary words with 2 or more capitalized letters, and add a number that means something. For example, MycatlovestoSleep247, satisfies the conditions.
Longer passwords are exponentially more difficult to guess for every character added to the length.
Do not use personal information in the password. Names of family members, pets, or even birthdays and anniversaries can be discovered through social media or other means.
Space words with a hyphen or underscore, or replace certain vowels with numbers or special characters.
Try the Security.org Password Strength Tool to check the strength of your password.
For additional help or information about password security, please see: How to Create Strong Passwords (and Remember Them!
Why Are We Doing This?
We understand password changes are inconvenient (happens to us too). However, many of us have used the same Windows password for a long time, and there’s a good chance those passwords have been leaked or compromised in some way. Modern research suggests that changing passwords on a short schedule is ineffective, which is why we settled on a yearly schedule. In addition, these changes will align with our Google accounts, allowing us to provide further improvements down the road.
If you have any trouble with the guides or changing your password, please submit a ticket.
Here’s a comic I found poking fun at Tech. Enjoy!
