# Setting very long passwords in Windows 8



## alpha_Ork1 (Feb 14, 2012)

For a very specific reason, I want to set very long passwords in one windows account. Currently I have a 65 letter password set in windows. I want to increase it to possibly 500 letter or more. However, it seems I cant set the password to any longer than 65 letters. 

Is there a way I can change some field inside windows, such that I can set longer passwords.

I have already tried Change password policy settings - Windows Help

to no avail. I am using windows 8 that comes preinstalled with a laptop. Presumably windows 8 home.

I can go into why I want to set a very long password, but its not very pertinent to the discussion. 

Thanks for your time.


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Anything longer than 65 characters is obsessive.

Windows is set as it still has to store that password somewhere and encrypting data with a 500 character limit would be quite large.

To change it, you'll have to find a system tweaking tool.


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

Using group policies, the maximum length can not be set, only a minimum and other things such as password complexity, uniqueness and age. It seems the max length is 127 characters.



> Windows Vista / 7 / Server 2008: 127 characters.


I see no reference to this being changed in Win 8.x and 10

Exchangepedia | What is the *real* maximum password length?

(link provided by SpunkFunk)


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

Even Microsoft is a little shady on the truth here. Once you reach the 65 character limit, you can continue to type characters, but they will not be displayed in the password field until you have reached *127 *character limit, where it will not accept any more characters, but how would you know if they are not being displayed? 
I have no idea why somebody would want to do this, especially if you have to login to your computer several times a day, you would spend most of the day, typing in your long password each time. historical - Password length limits in history of operating systems and popular web sites - Information Security Stack Exchange
Exchangepedia | What is the *real* maximum password length?


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## alpha_Ork1 (Feb 14, 2012)

The reason is to only log into this account only if its extremely necessary. I am the owner of this computer, and will have access to the password. 

Whoever will want to access this account will also have access to this password. I just want to make sure it takes a long time to log into this account, and make it hard for them to log into the account. 

I dont want to make it impossible to log into the account, just very hard. 

Thank you for sharing the info about the password limit, Mastercheif, MPR and spunk.funk. When I tried setting the password to longer than 65, it just didnt accept the password. 

I guess there is no way around this.


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

Why not just create another user account and not let anyone log into yours? Within that 65 characters you can use underscores, dollar signs ect......


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

I once saw someone who had his boat tied up with extremely ornate knots that took several minutes each to untie. I asked him why he did this and he said it was to make it harder for someone to steal the boat. I got out my pocketknife, cut the rope, and then asked "What if they do that?"

The moral here is that a knowledgeable computer user will be able to get into your system whether you have a complex Windows password or not. The password is there just to keep the casual user out. 

BTW, the next time I saw that boat the guy had it tied up with chains. I didn't have the heart to go to my truck and get out a pair of bolt cutters...


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