How to Change Password in Oracle

How do I change a user password in Oracle?

ALTER USER IDENTIFIED BY allows DBAs or users to change an Oracle database user’s password immediately.

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Description

What is the quickest way to change an Oracle password?

Run ALTER USER user_name IDENTIFIED BY new_password; in SQL*Plus or any SQL editor. Commit is not required; the change is effective as soon as the statement succeeds.

How do I change my own password?

Connect with your current credentials and execute ALTER USER CURRENT_USER IDENTIFIED BY new_password;. Oracle resolves CURRENT_USER to the connected user.

Which privileges are required?

A user can alter only their own password. To change another user’s password, grant ALTER USER system privilege or grant DBA role.

Can I force password expiration?

Yes. Append PASSWORD EXPIRE to the command: ALTER USER alice IDENTIFIED BY Temp#2024 PASSWORD EXPIRE;. The user must pick a new password at first login.

How do I enforce a password profile?

Set the profile while changing the password: ALTER USER alice IDENTIFIED BY Strong#45 PROFILE secure_profile;. Password complexity and reuse rules come from the profile.

Best practices for secure password management?

Use long, random phrases or a password generator. Rotate service-account passwords on a schedule. Store secrets in a vault, not application code. Always apply a password profile that enforces complexity, reuse, and lockout rules.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

Omitting quotes for special characters: Enclose passwords with symbols in double quotes. Correct: "S@mple#2024".

Changing password while sessions remain open: Active sessions stay valid. Terminate old sessions with ALTER SYSTEM KILL SESSION if immediate cutoff is required.

Practical example in an ecommerce context

Service account ecom_app reads Customers, Orders, and Products. Rotate its password quarterly:

ALTER USER ecom_app IDENTIFIED BY "Q1#2024$Ecom";

Update connection strings in the application secrets manager immediately after running the command.

Why How to Change Password in Oracle is important

How to Change Password in Oracle Example Usage


-- Quarterly rotation of service account for ecommerce app
ALTER USER ecom_app IDENTIFIED BY "Q1#2024$Ecom";

How to Change Password in Oracle Syntax


ALTER USER <user_name>
    IDENTIFIED BY <new_password>
    [PASSWORD EXPIRE]
    [ACCOUNT LOCK | ACCOUNT UNLOCK]
    [PROFILE <profile_name>];

-- Example: rotate a reporting user’s password
after-hours
ALTER USER reporting_app IDENTIFIED BY "R3port#Jul24" PASSWORD EXPIRE;

Common Mistakes

Using weak passwords like "admin" or repeating last password violates common profiles and leads to ORA-28003. Fix: choose a strong password that meets profile rules.
Forgetting to quote passwords with special characters causes ORA-00922. Fix: wrap the password in double quotes or remove unsupported symbols.