In plain English
It keeps track of earlier passwords for one account. That record lets a new password be compared with passwords already used there. Its purpose is to check whether the new one repeats one of them.
In context
Here, "password history" names the rule that a new password for the account is checked against the record of passwords previously used for that same account.
- Situation
- Setting passwords, multifactor authentication, recovery codes, and trusted devices
- What it communicates
- names the password-reuse rule in the policy message
Meaning limits
The term by itself does not say how many earlier passwords are kept or how long they remain in the record.
Examples
“On his email account, the password history matched the new password to one he had used there before.”
“Password history checks each new password against earlier passwords for that account.”