Unable to connect your PC to your home network? Most of the users have reported that they are stuck with the “Enter network credentials” error after upgrading their device to Windows 11. This error comes followed with the following message:
The username or password is incorrect.
The network credentials are needed whenever you’re trying to connect your Windows PC to any network. These credentials can either be your Microsoft account’s username or password or simply your local account details.
Wondering how to get past this error notification? You’ve come to the right place. In this post, we have listed several workarounds that will allow you to fix the “Enter network credentials error” on Windows 11 or Windows 10 devices.
Let’s get started.
How to Fix the “Enter Network Credentials” Issue on Windows
To make sure that you’re not constantly bothered by this alert, each time you try connecting your device to a network, use any of the below-mentioned troubleshooting hacks to get rid of this error.
1. Clear All Credentials
To begin with, we will try clearing all your saved credentials details from Windows Credentials Manager. Here’s what you need to do.
Launch the Start menu search box, enter “Notepad” and hit enter to open the default text editor of Windows.
In the Notepad, copy and paste the following content:
@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
After writing this code on Notepad, now save the file on your desktop with .BAT extension. For example, You can save it as “ClearCredentials.bat” or any other preferred title.
Once the file has been saved, head over to the Desktop, right-click on the .BAT file and then select the “Run as Administrator” option to run the Batch file.
After the batch file is executed, all your previously saved credentials and other junk data will be deleted giving you a fresh start to connect your PC.
2. Disable the Credential Manager Service
The next workaround to resolve the “Enter network credentials error” is by disabling the Credential Manager Service at startup. Once this service is disabled, the error notification won’t annoy you whenever you try to connect your device to any network. Follow these quick steps:
Press the Windows + R key combination to open the Run dialog box. Type “Services.msc” in the textbox and hit Enter.
In the Services window, look for the “Credential Manager” service. Double-tap on it to open Properties.
In the Credential Manager properties window, select the “Startup type” value as “Disabled”.
Hit on the OK and Apply buttons to save the recent changes.
Exit all windows, reboot your device and then try reconnecting your device to any network to check whether you’re still encountering any issues.
3. Disable Password-Protected Sharing in Network Settings
When the password-protected sharing setting is turned ON, only those users who have a local user account on this PC will be able to access shared files and devices. To make sure that other users can also have the same access, you can turn off the password-protected setting. To disable this setting on your Windows device, follow these quick steps:
Tap on the WiFi icon placed on the Taskbar, select the “Network and Internet Settings” option.
Select “Network and Sharing Center”.
In the Network and Sharing Center window, select the “Change Advanced Sharing Settings” option from the left menu pane.
Tap on “All Networks” to see the expanded set of options.
Under the “Password Protected Sharing” section, select the “Turn off password protected sharing” option.
Once you’re done, tap the “Save Changes” button placed at the bottom.
4. Add a new Credential in the Windows Credential Manager
Tried the above-mentioned solutions and still no luck? Well, if none of the above-listed resolutions help you in overcoming this issue, you can try adding a new credential in the Windows Credential Manager. Here’s what you need to do:
Launch the Start menu search box, type “Credentials Manager” and hit Enter.
Tap on “Windows Credentials”.
Select the “Add a Windows Credential” option.
Enter the network’s name, user ID, and password to add a new credential to your home network.
Tap on the OK button after filling in the details.
Once a new credential has been created, you can use this new local ID account while connecting to the network.
Conclusion
Here were a few solutions to fix the “Enter Network Credentials Error” on Windows 11/10. Did any of these workarounds help you in overcoming this issue? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments box.