phpMyAdmin - can't connect - invalid setings - ever since I added a root password - locked out

Go inside your phpMyAdmin directory inside XAMPP installation folder. There will be a file called config.inc.php. Inside that file, find this line:

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['password'] = '';

you must make sure that this field has your mysql root password (the one that you set).

PHPMYADMIN - Cannot connect: invalid settings.

I also faced similar issue but now I found a fix.

For wamp server:

IN: C:\wamp\apps\phpmyadminVERSION\config.inc.php

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['AllowNoPasswordRoot'] = true; 

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['AllowNoPasswordRoot'] = false; 

For xampp server:

because of xampp server had the following settings.

C:\xampp\phpMyAdmin\config.inc.php

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['user'] = 'root';

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['password'] = ''; // which is default setting in xampp server

$cfg['Servers'][$i]['password'] = 'your password';//type your password you have changed

I had a similar problem not being able to access phpmyadmin on a testing server after changing the root password. I tried everything mentioned above, including advice from other forums, using all kinds of variations to the config files. THEN I remembered that Google Chrome has some issues working with a testing server. The reason is that Chrome has a security feature to prevent local hard drive access from a remote website - unfortunately this can cause issues in a testing environment because the server is a local hard drive. When I tried to log in to phpmyadmin with Internet Explorer it worked fine. I tried several tests of Chrome v IE9, and Chrome would not work under any configuration with the root password set. I also tested Firefox it also worked fine, the issue is only with Chrome. My advice: if you're on a testing server make sure your config file has the correct settings as described above, but if the problem continues and you're using Chrome try a different browser.