Desktop pgAdmin repeatedly asks for the PostgreSQL password in Query Tool until the local pgadmin4 profile is reset

[MohammadZourmand]

Describe the issue

I encountered a strange authentication issue with pgAdmin Desktop.

The initial server connection worked correctly, and I could connect to PostgreSQL without any problem.

However, every time I tried to open Query Tool or View/Edit Data, pgAdmin prompted me for the PostgreSQL password again.

Even though I entered the correct password (the exact same password used to connect to the server), pgAdmin always returned:

FATAL: password authentication failed for user "postgres"

The confusing part was that PostgreSQL authentication itself was working correctly.

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Environment

• OS: Windows 10
• PostgreSQL: 18.4
• pgAdmin: 9.15 (Desktop)
• Authentication: SCRAM-SHA-256
• Connection: localhost (also tested with 127.0.0.1)

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What I verified

Before finding the workaround, I verified all of the following:

• PostgreSQL service was running correctly.
• The password was correct.
• psql connected successfully using the same credentials.
• Prisma connected successfully using the same credentials.
• pg_hba.conf was correctly configured.
• Changing localhost to 127.0.0.1 did not solve the issue.
• Disconnecting and reconnecting the server worked normally.
• The problem only occurred when opening Query Tool or View/Edit Data.

This made the error message very misleading because PostgreSQL authentication itself was working correctly.

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Workaround

The issue appears to have been caused by corrupted local pgAdmin user data.

Closing pgAdmin and renaming the local profile directory immediately resolved the problem.

Original folder:

C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\pgadmin4

Renamed to:

pgadmin4_backup

After restarting pgAdmin and recreating the server connection, Query Tool and View/Edit Data worked normally without asking for the password again.

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Expected behavior

If the local pgAdmin profile becomes corrupted, it would be helpful if pgAdmin could either:

• detect the corrupted profile,
• recreate it automatically,
• or display a clearer error message instead of repeatedly reporting a PostgreSQL password authentication failure.

The current error message makes it appear that PostgreSQL authentication is failing, while the issue seems to be related to corrupted local pgAdmin state.

If this behavior is expected rather than a bug, it might be helpful to document this troubleshooting step in the official documentation, as it could save users a significant amount of troubleshooting time.

[ne-Lux]

Hi @MohammadZourmand,
I encountered a similar issue with the Query Tool space in Cloud-Deployed Server Mode. This is related to not being able to update saved passwords anymore: #10128

Would you mind trying, if you encounter the same issue? In case it is realted to the saved password not matching the current password and you are not able to update it via pgadmin, we could link our issues to save work for contributers / maintainers :)

[MohammadZourmand]

Hi!

Thank you for your comment.

I tested this on my setup, and my case seems to be a little different.

My PostgreSQL password was actually correct:

• I could connect successfully using psql.
• Prisma was also able to connect to the database.

The problem was only in pgAdmin. Every time I opened the Query Tool, it kept asking for the password repeatedly, even after entering the correct password.

What finally solved the issue was deleting pgAdmin's local configuration/cache folders (%APPDATA%\pgAdmin and %LOCALAPPDATA%\pgAdmin on Windows). After restarting pgAdmin and reconnecting to the server, the Query Tool worked normally again.

So in my case, it seems the problem was caused by corrupted local pgAdmin settings rather than an incorrect saved password.

I hope this information helps determine whether these issues are related.