Way to describe entering old password out of habit?

Recently I changed my password on my computer but for the past few days I keep entering the old one when trying to log in or unlock it. Is there a word or phrase in to describe this? Another example would be writing 2013 for the year out of habit even though you know it's 2014.

Solution 1:

There's no special word just for doing that with passwords that I know of.

However, the term for when you just do something physical like that without thinking about it because you done it a jillion times before is "muscle memory". Another example is working a combination lock you've been using for a long time, but not being able to actually tell another person what the combination is (without grabbing hold of the lock and working it and reciting the numbers as you get to them).

The problem of course is if the thing you've trained your body to do changes (eg: your combination changes), then the muscle memory actually works against you. At least until you can retrain.

Solution 2:

Where "muscle memory" is the cause, "force of habit" is the result:

behavior made involuntary or automatic by repeated practice

Solution 3:

When I worked in IT we used to call it Password Autopilot. I don't think that's a real term though, just what some network admins call it.