Plesk for Windows Server shows the error: Access denied for user 'admin'@'localhost' (using password: YES)

Kuzma Ivanov

Updated January 13, 2026 19:03

Plesk for Windows kb: technical ABT: Group B

Applicable to:

When accessing Plesk in a web-browser or running a Plesk utility, the following error is shown:

PLESK_INFO: DB query failed: SQLSTATE[HY000] [1045] Access denied for user 'admin'@'localhost' (using password: YES)

An incorrect password is set for the MySQL admin user in the MySQL database.

Connect to the Plesk server via RDP.
Start a command prompt as an Administrator.
Open the MySQL configuration file:

C:\> notepad '%plesk_dir%MySQL\my.ini'
Add the skip-grant-tables option under the [PleskSQLServer] section:

CONFIG_TEXT: [PleskSQLServer]
skip-grant-tables
Save the changes.
Restart the Plesk SQL Server service:

C:\> net stop PleskSQLServer && net start PleskSQLServer
Find the MySQL / MariaDB server version:

C:\> plesk db "SELECT VERSION();"
Depending on the version, change the admin password in the database:

For MySQL 5.7.6 and newer / MariaDB 10.1.21 and newer

C:\> plesk db

MYSQL_WIN: use mysql;

MYSQL_WIN: FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

MYSQL_WIN: DROP USER 'admin'@'localhost';

MYSQL_WIN: CREATE USER 'admin'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED VIA mysql_native_password USING PASSWORD('new_password');

MYSQL_WIN: GRANT ALL ON *.* TO 'admin'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION;

MYSQL_WIN: exit

For MySQL 5.7.5 and earlier / MariaDB 10.1.20 and earlier

C:\> plesk db "update mysql.user set authentication_string=password('new_password') where user='admin'"

Remove the skip-grant-tables from %plesk_dir%MySQL\my.ini.
Restart the Plesk SQL Server service:

C:\> net stop PleskSQLServer && net start PleskSQLServer
Update the password in Windows registry:

C:\> plesk sbin psadb --update-admin-password --password="new_password"