How to fix ERR invalid password in Redis

Check the requirepass setting in your redis.conf file:

redis-cli CONFIG GET requirepass

If requirepass is empty (returns an empty string), Redis has no password protection enabled. If it returns a password, verify you are using that exact value.

Example output:
1) "requirepass"
2) "my-secure-password-123"

For managed Redis services (AWS ElastiCache, Azure Redis, Heroku, etc.), find the password in your service dashboard or CLI.

Use redis-cli to manually test the password:

redis-cli -h localhost -p 6379 -a your-password ping

If successful, you should see: PONG

For Redis 6.0+ with named users:

redis-cli -h localhost -p 6379 --user myuser --pass mypassword ping

Ensure your connection string uses the correct format for your Redis version.

For Redis < 6.0 (password only):
redis://:<password>@<host>:<port>/<db>
redis-cli -a <password> -h <host> -p <port>

For Redis 6.0+ (username and password):
redis://<username>:<password>@<host>:<port>/<db>
redis-cli --user <username> --pass <password> -h <host> -p <port>

For Redis 6.0+ default user (password only):
redis://:<password>@<host>:<port>/<db>
redis-cli -a <password> -h <host> -p <port>

Make sure you are not mixing formats. If using Redis 6.0+, verify whether you are connecting to a custom ACL user or the default user.

If your password contains special characters, they must be URL-encoded in connection strings:

Common special character encodings:
: = %3A
@ = %40
# = %23
/ = %2F
? = %3F
& = %26
= = %3D

Example: password is "my:pass@word" encodes as "my%3Apass%40word"

In Node.js with ioredis, let the library handle encoding by passing the plain password:
const redis = new Redis({
host: "localhost",
port: 6379,
password: "my:pass@word"
});

With redis-cli, quote the password:
redis-cli -a "my:pass@word" -h localhost -p 6379 ping

For Redis 6.0+, verify the user exists and is enabled:

redis-cli ACL LIST
redis-cli ACL GETUSER default

The output should show the user is "on", not "off".

If the user is off or does not exist, enable or create it:

Redis-cli ACL SETUSER default on
redis-cli ACL SETUSER myuser on >mynewpassword ~* +@all
redis-cli ACL SETUSER default >newpassword

The > prefix sets a new password for the user.

If you have forgotten the password, you can reset it.

For local Redis server:
Stop Redis: sudo systemctl stop redis-server
Edit redis.conf: sudo nano /etc/redis/redis.conf
Find and modify requirepass requirepass newpassword
Start Redis: sudo systemctl start redis-server
Test: redis-cli -a newpassword ping

For Redis 6.0+ with ACL:
redis-cli ACL SETUSER default >newpassword
Then test: redis-cli -a newpassword ping

For managed services (AWS ElastiCache, etc.), use the service dashboard or CLI to reset/rotate the password.