While working in Outlook 2021 for the desktop (also affects older versions), sometimes Outlook will show “Needs Password” in the bottom right status bar. If you click on the text, a window will appear and almost immediately disappear.
One fix for this issue is clearing the outlook credentials in Windows Credential Manager.
An easier fix that I have found is to refresh DNS.
- Close Outlook
- Open a command prompt
- Type these two commands in this order:
- ipconfig /release
- ipconfig /renew
- Open Outlook
I have yet to find a permanent fix for this issue as it continues to reappear on multiple accounts on multiple computers. It tends to happen the most with work/school accounts.
Hope this helps you out. It has been very frustrating for me. So glad I found the simple release/renew fix for it!