How To Easily Enable Or Disable Device Password History Policy Using Microsoft Intune HTMD Blog

In this article I will explain how to Enable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune. The Device Password History Policy in Microsoft Intune is a security setting that prevents users from reusing their old passwords on managed devices.

By enabling this policy, IT administrators can specify how many previous passwords are remembered by the system. This ensures users must create a new and unique password when updating their credentials, reducing the risk of compromised passwords being reused.

Using Microsoft Intune, this policy is part of the broader Device Restrictions configuration. Admins can define the password history count (e.g., last 5 or 10 passwords) for Windows, iOS/iPadOS, Android, or macOS devices. This setting enhances compliance with organizational security standards and helps meet regulatory requirements for password management.

Once configured and deployed via Intune, the password history policy is enforced on all assigned devices. Users attempting to reuse an old password during a password change will be blocked, thereby encouraging better password hygiene. Combined with other password policies, this helps maintain a stronger security posture across the organization.

How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune - Fig.1 — How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune – Fig.1

What is Device Password History Policy

Here’s a concise table explaining key points about the Device Password History Policy Configuration in Microsoft Intune.

Point	Details
Policy Name	Device Password History Policy
Purpose	Prevents users from reusing previous passwords
Managed Through	Microsoft Intune (Device Configuration Profile > Device Restrictions)
Applicable Platforms	Windows, Android, iOS/iPadOS, macOS (platform support may vary)
Configuration Option	Set number of previous passwords to remember (e.g., 5, 10)
Security Benefit	Enhances password hygiene and prevents easy-to-guess credential reuse
Compliance Use	Supports compliance with standards like NIST, ISO 27001, HIPAA
Deployment Scope	Assigned to device groups or user groups via Intune
User Impact	Users must create new passwords that haven’t been used recently
Common Use Case	Enforcing enterprise password policies for enhanced security posture

How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune – Table 1

Create a Configuration to Enable Device Password History Policy in Intune

To enable the Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune, follow these steps. First, sign in to the Microsoft Intune Admin Center with your administrator credentials.

Navigate to Devices > Windows > Manage devices > Configuration
Click on +Create > +New Policy

How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune - Fig.2 — How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune – Fig.2

Next, we will create a new configuration profile from scratch. First, we need to provide the options mentioned below.

Platform: Windows 10 and later
Profile type: Settings catalog

How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune - Fig.3 — How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune – Fig.3

On the Basics details page, we can name the configuration policy “Enable Device Password History Policy,” if necessary, provide a brief description of its usage, and then click Next.

How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune - Fig. 4 — How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune – Fig. 4

We can now add the necessary settings to the Configuration Settings pane. To do this, click on +Add settings in the bottom left corner of the page.

How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune - Fig. 5 — How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune – Fig. 5

Search for “Device Password History” as a keyword. This will help us find the correct policy based on your current needs. Next, look for the “Device Lock” category and click on it. Check the settings labeled “Device Password History” and then close the Settings picker window.

How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune - Fig.6 — How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune – Fig.6

On the current Configuration Settings page, enable the Device Password and set the Device Password History to 5, this Specifies how many passwords can be stored in the history that can’t be used.then click Next.

Policy CSP – ./Device/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/DeviceLock/DevicePasswordHistory

How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune - Fig.7 — How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune – Fig.7

On the next page, keep the Scope tags set to Default. If your tenant has custom scope tags, select them according to your policy needs, then click on Next.

How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune - Fig.8 — How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune – Fig.8

I am assigning the configuration policy to the “HTMD – Test Computers” device group. To do this, click on “Add Groups” and select the desired device group under the “Included Groups” option. In this example, I am not using any filters, and the “Excluded Groups” option has been left blank.

How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune - Fig.9 — How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune – Fig.9

On the Review + create page, thoroughly review all settings defined for the Enable Device Password History Policy. Once you’ve confirmed everything is correct, select “Create” to deploy the policy.

How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune - Fig.10 — How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune – Fig.10

Monitor the Enable Device Password History Policy Deployment

The configuration policy has been successfully deployed to the HTMD – Test Computers, Microsoft Entra ID Device group. Once the device is synced, the policy will take effect immediately. To monitor the policy deployment from the Intune Portal, follow the steps below.

Navigate to Devices > Windows > Configuration > Search for the “Enable Device Password History Policy” configuration.
Under the Device and user check-in status, you can see the policy’s deployment status.

How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune - Fig.11 — How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune – Fig.11

End User Experience

We can now verify whether the “Enable Device Password History Policy” policy is functioning correctly. Start by logging into the device affected by the policy. Next, we can check the status of the policy using the Intune Event Logs. To do this, open the Event Viewer on the device.

Navigate to Applications and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows > Devicemanagement-Enterprise-Diagnostics-Provider – Admin

Filter the latest logs with Event ID 814 to to easily locate the successful log. The screenshot below shows that the policy was successfully applied to the system, and our policy has worked as expected!

How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune - Fig.12 — How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune – Fig.12

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Author

Vaishnav K has over 11 years of experience in SCCM, Device Management, and Automation Solutions. Writes and imparts knowledge about Microsoft Intune, Azure, PowerShell scripting, and automation. Check out my profile on LinkedIn.

How to Easily Enable or Disable Device Password History Policy using Microsoft Intune

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