Alphanumeric Password Examples: What They Are & How to Create One (2026)

What does "alphanumeric password" mean? See examples, understand the requirements, and learn how to create a strong password with letters, numbers, and special characters.

When a website tells you to create a "password with alphanumeric characters," what does that actually mean? This guide explains alphanumeric passwords in plain language, shows you examples at every security level, and helps you create one that actually protects your accounts.

1. What Is an Alphanumeric Password?

An alphanumeric password is a password that contains both letters and numbers. The word "alphanumeric" breaks down into:

• Alpha = alphabetic characters (letters A-Z, both uppercase and lowercase)
• Numeric = numbers (0-9)

When a service says "your password must contain alphanumeric characters," it means you need at least one letter and at least one number. For example, password is alphabetic only (no numbers), 12345678 is numeric only (no letters), but pass1234 is alphanumeric (both letters and numbers).

Most modern services go beyond alphanumeric requirements and also ask for special characters like !@#$%^&*. But understanding what alphanumeric means is the first step to creating a strong password.

2. What Are Alphanumeric Characters?

Here's a complete breakdown of character types used in passwords:

The more character types you use, the more possible combinations exist for each position in your password. An alphanumeric password has 62 options per character. Adding special characters increases that to 95 — making your password significantly harder to crack.

3. Alphanumeric Password Examples

Here are alphanumeric password examples — passwords using only letters and numbers (no special characters). These meet the minimum "alphanumeric" requirement but are not as strong as passwords with symbols.

These are examples only. Never use a password you've seen published online. Generate a unique password here.

4. Alphanumeric Password Examples with Special Characters

For maximum security, add special characters to your alphanumeric password. Most security experts consider this the gold standard. Here are alphanumeric-symbolic password examples:

Notice how the special characters are distributed throughout the password, not just tacked on at the end. A password like password123! is far weaker than p!a2s#s4w even though both have letters, numbers, and a symbol.

5. Alphabetic vs Alphanumeric vs Symbolic: Strength Comparison

How much difference do character types actually make? Here's a direct comparison for an 8-character password:

Adding each character type dramatically increases the number of possible combinations. But remember: length is even more important than character types. A 16-character alphanumeric password is far stronger than an 8-character password with all character types.

6. Strong Alphanumeric Password Sample List

Here's a sample password list with alphanumeric passwords of varying lengths and complexity. Each uses all character types for maximum security.

These are published examples — do not use them directly. Generate your own unique password.

7. Common Service Requirements

Different services have different password requirements. Here's what major platforms ask for:

Even when a service only "recommends" certain character types, you should always use all four types. The minimum requirement is the weakest acceptable password, not the target.

8. How to Create a Strong Alphanumeric Password

Follow these steps to create a strong alphanumeric password that exceeds all requirements:

1. Use 16+ characters — length is more important than any other factor
2. Mix all character types — uppercase (A-Z), lowercase (a-z), numbers (0-9), and symbols (!@#$%^&*)
3. Distribute characters randomly — don't put all numbers at the end or all symbols at the start
4. Use a password generator — humans unconsciously create patterns that cracking tools exploit. Use our Strong Password Generator
5. Never reuse passwords — each account should have a unique alphanumeric password
6. Store securely — use a password manager instead of trying to remember complex alphanumeric strings

9. Common Alphanumeric Password Mistakes

These patterns technically meet "alphanumeric" requirements but are trivially easy to crack:

The key principle: if a human chose it, it's probably predictable. Use a password generator for true randomness.

10. Generate an Alphanumeric Password

Create a strong, truly random alphanumeric password that meets any service's requirements:

Our Strong Password Generator creates random passwords with your choice of character types and length. You can generate pure alphanumeric passwords or add special characters for maximum security. Then use our password complexity checker to verify the strength.

11. How to Store Your Passwords

Strong alphanumeric passwords are impossible to memorise — and that's fine. Here are your storage options, ranked:

A dedicated password manager like NordPass encrypts your passwords with XChaCha20 encryption and works across all your devices. It also auto-generates strong alphanumeric passwords that meet every service's requirements, so you never have to think about character types again.

12. Frequently Asked Questions

Need passwords for specific services? Check out our Apple ID Password Generator, Google Password Generator, or browse our full password generator directory.