How to enforce password history for local accounts in Windows 10. Recycling old passwords or using the same one on all accounts are big no-nos in cybersecurity. So let's put a stop to that. In this video we'll show you how to enforce password history for local accounts in Windows 10. A simple but seriously underrated security boost. Before we begin, be sure to subscribe to Ninja one's IT Video hub and our YouTube channel. For more tech content like this, say no to one for all. So why does this matter? Reusing old passwords is like putting the same lock on every door. If one gets picked, all your rooms are exposed. Enforcing password history keeps users from just cycling through their last few favorite passwords, and it's a great first step towards stronger system security ways to enforce password history. Here's how to set it up using the local group policy editor. Super simple. If you're on Windows 10 pro enterprise or education, press Windows plus R type GP edit. Do MSC and hit enter. Navigate to computer configuration, window settings, security settings, account policies, Password policy, find enforce password history, double click it and set How many past passwords to remember. Between zero and 24, we recommend five to 10. Hit apply. Click okay and your golden. Don't forget to open command, prompt as administrator and type GP update slash force to make it all stick. Then try changing the password to one you've used before if it blocks you. Congrats. Policy enforced. Now, if you're using a version of Windows without group policy editor like home edition, don't sweat it. Open command prompt as admin and use this instead. Net accounts slash unique PW colon five. Just swap five with your preferred number of remembered passwords having issues. Try restarting. Double check your policy settings and look out for third party software that might override your changes. And here's a pro tip, set a minimum password age so users can't cheat the system by changing passwords multiple times in a row just to reuse the old one. There you have it. One quick tweak for a big leap in security. Simple, powerful, and your future self will. Thank you. For more information, check out our official blog post on how to enforce password history for local accounts linked in the description below.