Where to change your email password on iPhone 14
You cannot change your email password directly in the Mail app on iPhone 14. Instead, you change it through the email provider's website — Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, or whoever hosts your account — and then update the password in your iPhone settings so the phone can still access your email.
The reason is simple: your email provider controls your password for security reasons. Your iPhone stores that password locally so it can check your mail without asking you every time. When you change the password at the source, you have to tell your iPhone the new one.
This article walks you through both steps: changing the password itself, and then updating it on your phone so your email keeps working.
Key Takeaways
- Change your email password on your provider's website (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc.), not in the Mail app on your iPhone.
- After you change the password, go to iPhone Settings > Mail > Accounts and update the stored password so your phone can still receive email.
- If you forget which email provider you use, open the Mail app, tap Mailboxes, and look at the account name — it usually shows the provider.
- Your iPhone will show an error message asking for the new password if you do not update it within a few hours of changing it online.
Step 1: Change your password on your email provider's website
Open Safari or any web browser on your iPhone and go to your email provider's login page. For Gmail, go to myaccount.google.com. For Outlook, go to account.microsoft.com. For Yahoo, go to login.yahoo.com. Sign in with your current email address and password.
Once you are signed in, look for a "Security" or "Password" section. In Gmail, tap your profile picture in the top right, then select "Manage your Google Account," then tap the "Security" tab. In Outlook, look for "Security" in the left menu. In Yahoo, look for "Account Security" or "Change password." The exact location varies, but all providers put this in an account settings area.
When you find the password section, tap "Change password" or "Update password." You will be asked to enter your current password once more for security, then type your new password twice. Make sure your new password is something you can remember, or write it down somewhere safe — you will need to enter it on your iPhone in the next step.
After you save the new password on the provider's website, you are done with that part. Do not close the browser yet — just move to the next step on your iPhone.
Step 2: Update the password in iPhone Mail settings
Open the Settings app on your iPhone 14. Scroll down and tap "Mail." Then tap "Accounts." You will see a list of all the email accounts set up on your phone. Tap the account you just changed the password for.
Tap "Account" at the top of the screen (not "Mailbox Behavior" or other options below it). You will see fields for your email address and password. The password field will show dots or asterisks. Tap on the password field and delete what is there, then type your new password.
Tap "Save" in the top right corner. Your iPhone will test the connection to make sure the new password works. If it does, you will see a checkmark and the screen will close. If the password is wrong, you will see an error message — go back and check that you typed it correctly, then try again.
What to do if your iPhone shows a password error
If you see a message saying "The password for [your email] is incorrect" or "Unable to verify account name or password," it usually means one of three things: the password you typed does not match what you set on the provider's website, the email address in the account settings is slightly wrong, or the provider's servers have not updated yet.
First, double-check the password. Go back to your email provider's website in Safari, sign out, and try signing in again with the new password you just created. If that works, you know the password is correct. Then go back to Settings > Mail > Accounts, tap your account, tap Account, and re-enter the password carefully — watch for capital letters, spaces, or special characters you might have missed.
If you still see an error after 10 minutes, wait 15 more minutes and try again. Email providers sometimes take a few minutes to update their systems after you change a password. If the error persists after an hour, contact your email provider's support — there may be a temporary issue on their end.
How to find your email provider if you are not sure
If you have multiple email accounts on your iPhone and cannot remember which provider each one uses, open the Mail app and tap "Mailboxes" at the bottom left. Look at the list of accounts — each one shows the email address. The part after the @ symbol tells you the provider: @gmail.com is Gmail, @outlook.com or @hotmail.com is Outlook, @yahoo.com is Yahoo, and so on.
If you see an email address you do not recognize or cannot remember the password for, you can still change it by going to that provider's website and using the "Forgot password" option. You will be asked to verify your identity — usually by entering a recovery email address or phone number you set up when you created the account.
Preventing password problems in the future
After you have successfully updated your password on your iPhone, consider writing it down in a safe place or using a password manager app like 1Password or Bitwarden. These apps store passwords securely and fill them in automatically, so you do not have to type them by hand on your phone.
If you change your email password regularly for security, set a reminder on your calendar to update it on your iPhone at the same time. This prevents the situation where your password has changed but your phone still has the old one, which can lock you out of your email for a few hours.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will changing my email password log me out of other apps on my iPhone?
No. Apps like Facebook, Instagram, or banking apps that use your email to sign in will keep working. Those apps store their own login tokens, not your email password. Only the Mail app needs the email password updated.
What if I change my password and then forget the new one?
Go to your email provider's website and use the "Forgot password" option. You will be asked to verify your identity through a recovery email or phone number. Once you reset it, update the new password on your iPhone following Step 2 above.
Can I change my email password from the Mail app directly?
No. The Mail app on iPhone does not have a password-change feature. You must go to your provider's website. This is by design — it prevents someone with access to your phone from changing your email password without your permission.
How often should I change my email password?
There is no set rule, but changing it every few months is reasonable if you use the same password across multiple accounts. If you use a unique, strong password for email only, changing it once a year is usually enough unless you suspect a breach.
What if my email provider is not Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo?
Search "[your provider name] change password" in Safari to find their account settings page. The process is the same: sign in, find the security or password section, change it, then update it on your iPhone in Settings > Mail > Accounts.