0X00000898

Fix Windows NERR_AlreadyLoggedOn (0X00000898) Error

Windows Errors Beginner 👁 2 views 📅 May 27, 2026

Your workstation says it's already logged on to the LAN. It's a session conflict, not a login failure. Here's how to clear it fast.

1. Stale Network Sessions Cache (Most Common)

This error hits when Windows holds onto a network connection long after you disconnected. It's like a phone line that never hung up. I've seen it most often after a sudden network drop, VPN disconnect, or when you switch from wired to Wi-Fi too fast.

The quickest fix? Flush those sessions from the command line. No reboot needed.

  1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator. Hit Start, type cmd, right-click and choose Run as administrator.
  2. Run this to see what sessions are stuck:
    net session
  3. If you see your own machine listed (it shouldn't be, but it happens), delete it:
    net session \\YourComputerName /delete
  4. Now clear all stored network credentials:
    cmdkey /list | for /f "tokens=1,2 delims= " %a in ('find /i "target="') do @cmdkey /delete %b
  5. Finally, disconnect any mapped drives with:
    net use * /delete

Confirm with net use and net session — they should return nothing. Try accessing the network share again. Nine times out of ten, this kills the error.

2. Windows Credentials Manager Mismatch

Sometimes the session cache isn't the problem — it's the saved credentials themselves. If you changed your password recently, or if your domain credentials got out of sync, the stored login info in Windows Credential Manager can trigger error 0X00000898.

Here's the fix:

  1. Open Control Panel → User Accounts → Credential Manager.
  2. Click Windows Credentials.
  3. Look for entries under Generic Credentials that reference your network share or server. They'll look like TERMSRV/ServerName or just ServerName.
  4. Remove them. All of them that match the server you're trying to connect to.
  5. Restart the Workstation service. Open Services.msc, find Workstation, right-click → Restart.

Now try connecting again. Windows will prompt you for fresh credentials. Enter the current password and you're in. I've seen this fix it on Windows 10 22H2 and Windows 11 23H2 specifically after a domain password reset.

3. Corrupted Workstation Service or Registry Entry

If the first two fixes didn't work, the problem might be deeper — a corrupted registry key that controls the maximum number of simultaneous sessions. This is rare but real. The error code 0X00000898 maps directly to the NERR_AlreadyLoggedOn network error, which Windows uses when its internal session limit is hit.

Check this registry key:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters

Look for MaxCmds and MaxThreads. Default values should be 50 and 10 respectively. If they're set weirdly low — like 1 or 0 — that's your culprit.

Fix it:

  1. Open Regedit as Administrator.
  2. Go to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters.
  3. Double-click MaxCmds. Set it to 50 (decimal). If it doesn't exist, create a DWORD (32-bit) value with that name.
  4. Double-check MaxThreads. Set it to 10 (decimal).
  5. Close Regedit and restart the Workstation service (or reboot).

I've had a client whose IT admin accidentally set MaxCmds to 2 while troubleshooting another issue — this error showed up daily until we fixed it. Setting it back to default resolved it permanently.

Quick-Reference Summary Table

Cause Fix Difficulty
Stale network sessions Run net session \\ComputerName /delete and net use * /delete Beginner
Windows Credentials mismatch Delete old credentials in Credential Manager, restart Workstation service Beginner
Corrupted Workstation service registry Set MaxCmds and MaxThreads to defaults in Registry Intermediate

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NERR_AlreadyLoggedOn 0X00000898 Windows network error workstation already logged on LAN login conflict disconnect network session net use command Windows credentials manager restart workstation service registry fix network session