MySQL PASSWORD() Function

The MySQL PASSWORD() function is used by the authentication system in MySQL to generate a hashed password from a plaintext password string. It uses more powerful hashing as compared to older hashing techniques. To use older hashing techniques, OLD_PASSWORD() function can be used.

The PASSWORD() function returns the encrypted/hashed string, or NULL if the string is NULL.

The PASSWORD() function performs one-way encryption. This function is used by the authentication system in MySQL to store passwords.

Syntax

PASSWORD(string)

Parameters

Return Value

Returns the encrypted/hashed password string.

Example:

The example below shows the usage of PASSWORD() function.

mysql> SELECT PASSWORD('xyz');
Result: '*39C549BDECFBA8AFC3CE6B948C9359A0ECE08DE2'

mysql> SELECT PASSWORD('password');
Result: '*2470C0C06DEE42FD1618BB99005ADCA2EC9D1E19'

mysql> SELECT PASSWORD('alphacodingskills');
Result: '*3CAF4FC498E7B7D0F274A6B22CC7A8149F3703E5'

mysql> SELECT PASSWORD(123);
Result: '*23AE809DDACAF96AF0FD78ED04B6A265E05AA257'

mysql> SELECT PASSWORD(NULL);
Result: NULL