When an application or network connection keeps presenting an old identity, first identify the saved entry it might be using. Deleting every credential creates additional sign-in work and makes the original cause harder to isolate.

Work in the affected Windows user's account. Confirm the intended server or service name and the authorised username with its owner. Make sure you have a legitimate way to sign in again before removing a stored credential.

Match the saved entry to the target

Search Windows for Credential Manager and open its Control Panel result. Microsoft separates Web Credentials and Windows Credentials; choose the category relevant to the connection. Inspect the target and username rather than assuming similarly named entries are interchangeable.

For a command-line inventory, open Command Prompt in the same user context and run:

cmdkey /list

Microsoft documents this as listing stored usernames and credentials. To narrow the result to a known target, use /list: followed by that target. The listing is not a password-recovery command; stored passwords are not displayed.

Keep the output private. Server names and usernames can reveal internal information even when passwords are absent. Record only the specific entry needed for the investigation.

Make a narrow change only when the match is established

If the selected entry is confirmed stale and you can reauthenticate, remove that entry through Credential Manager. The documented command-line alternative is cmdkey /delete: followed by the exact intended target. Do not use a copied example target as if it belonged to your system.

This removes a saved credential; it is not an instruction to change the account's password on the server. Reopen the intended application or connection and inspect its next legitimate authentication request. Verify the target before entering credentials.

If the problem remains, stop clearing unrelated entries. Preserve the exact new result: authentication rejected, access denied to one folder, or a protocol-security warning lead to different investigations. Confirm successful access to a harmless expected item before describing the connection as restored, and retain the original account arrangement until the outcome is understood.

Sources: Microsoft Credential Manager; Microsoft cmdkey command.