How to fix MySQL Native Password Not Loaded on MySQL 8.4

This has been one of the most noticed changes when upgrading to MySQL 8.4. And for anyone that has made the upgrade without prior research, getting the MySQL native password not loaded error can certainly cause some headaches.

Please be aware that MySQL 9.0 will remove this plugin entirely!

If you didn’t know, the native password error is referring to an authentication plugin. And because MySQL 8.4 no longer loads this authentication plugin, it’ll stop your program connecting.

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The Error Messages — MySQL Native Password Not Loaded

You might get a slightly different error messages, depending on your method of connecting. You could see something like these examples:

mysqli_sql_exception  Plugin 'mysql_native_password' is not loaded.

SQLSTATE[HY000] [1524] Plugin 'mysql_native_password' is not loaded