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IMAP password needed for new Outlook

Townman
Superuser
Superuser
Posts: 23,891
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Registered: ‎22-08-2007

Re: IMAP password needed for new Outlook

@Raquel107 

For clarification, when asked for the IMAP / SMTP or POP3 password, they are all the same as your email password.  The email client connects to two different services one for sending (SMTP) and one for receiving (IMAP or POP3).

If you keep getting prompted for the password and you are certain that both the user name and password are correct, then the issue is something else.  Email clients are frequently very unhelpful in discerning the real connection failure reason - they all appear to be password errors ... even when they are not.

The "Outlook" email program is a particularly difficult beast to configure.

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HPsauce
Seasoned Pro
Posts: 7,155
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Registered: ‎02-02-2008

Re: IMAP password needed for new Outlook

I concur wholeheartedly with the above post by @Townman , especially as an otherwise devotee of Outlook in its various guises.

If in doubt it tells you the password is wrong, usually (almost invariably!) when it isn't, this has caused much chaos with SWMBO whose first reaction is to try and change the password!

My usual assumption is that there's a connection issue (router/WIFI whatever) then a server-end issue then an authentication issue of some unusual detailed type.

It is indeed most unhelpful at pointing you in the right direction. 🙄

PS I've also played with Thunderbird and various other email clients but unfortunately, once set up, Outlook is better. Especially if you've been a user in a corporate environment in an "earlier life". 🤣

Raquel107
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Registered: ‎24-02-2024

Re: IMAP password needed for new Outlook

@HPsauce 

@Townman 

Thank you both for making me feel better about this! It does seem to be unnecessarily complicated and misleading. As a non-technical person in many respects, I do pride myself in managing to set up most things with perseverance and perhaps a bit of trial and error, but this has defeated me! Perhaps Outlook needs to look at its setup and iron out anomalies like this so that lay people can get on with it too - surely they want to reach as wide an audience as possible. Hey ho!

Townman
Superuser
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Re: IMAP password needed for new Outlook

Outlook is far from being alone in this regard.

I have repeated issues with my iPhone and iPad email applications repeatedly asking for the 'correct' password for my Outlook.com email account ... when encountering a connectivity failure.

Connection to the Oulook.com servers does seem temperamental at times in general.  "Proper" Outlook on my lap top simply reports a connection issue ... which sometime later will rectify it self.

Note that this reference to "outlook" is not the same as yours - it is a VERY confusing label!

Superusers are not staff, but they do have a direct line of communication into the business in order to raise issues, concerns and feedback from the community.

Mav
Moderator
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Registered: ‎06-04-2007

Re: IMAP password needed for new Outlook


@Townman wrote:

Outlook is far from being alone in this regard.


It was a frequent issue years ago when using PN's Webmail.

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