1. Open the XAMPP Control Panel and stop the MySQL service if it is running.
2. Clicck the "Config" button next to the MySQL module.
3. Select "my.ini" from the list — this file resides in the XAMPP\mysql\bin directory.
4. Locate the [mysqld] section in the configuration file.
5. Add the line skip-grant-tables under that section.
6. Save the changes and close the file.
7. Return to the XAMPP Control Panel and restart the MySQL service.

Now open a terminal or command prompt. Navigate to the MySQL bin directory:

cd C:\xampp\mysql\bin

Launch the MySQL client without authentication:

mysql -u root

Once inside the MySQL prompt, update the root passsword using the following command:

UPDATE mysql.user SET authentication_string = PASSWORD('new_secure_password') WHERE User = 'root';

Replace new_secure_password with your desired password. Then reload the privilege tables:

FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Exit the MySQL client:

exit;

Stop the MySQL service again in the XAMPP Control Panel. Reopen the my.ini file and remove the skip-grant-tables line you added earlier. Save the file.

Restart MySQL one final time. You should now be able to log in with your new password using:

mysql -u root -p

Handling Common Errors

Error: "The MariaDB server is running with the --skip-grant-tables option so it cannot execute this statement"

This occurs because skip-grant-tables disables all privilege checks, making password updates impossible. To resolve:

• Stop the MySQL service.
• Remove skip-grant-tables from my.ini.
• Restart MySQL normally — authentication will be re-enabled.
• Try the password update again.

Error: "MySQL server has gone away" or "Can't connect to localhost"

These indicate a connection failure. Check:

• Whether the MySQL service is actually running in the XAMPP panel.
• If the port (default 3306) is not blocked by a firewall or occupied by another process.
• That no syntax errors in my.ini are preventing MySQL from starting properly.

If MySQL fails to start after editing my.ini, revert the changes and validate the file’s syntax before retrying.