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All of a sudden, Thunderbird started asking me to enter the master password for the Software Security Device. Trouble is, I never set up a master password.

  • 4 replies
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  • Last reply by christ1

kiki-star
kiki-star

After an update, Thunderbird started asking me to "enter the master password for the Software Security Device. I have never set up such a password and have no idea how to proceed. I tried clicking cancel 10 times and the little window stopped appearing so I went to tools and found the place to change the password, but it required me to enter the existing password first, which, of course, I do not have. I have a much older computer upon which I can still access my email, but I'm tired of running up and down stairs. There isn't room in either location to set up the two computers. I hope someone can help me set or reset this password. I am attaching a screen shot of the problem. Oops, it won't attach it in Paint. I've created a copy on Word, but don't know where to click to attach that one.

After an update, Thunderbird started asking me to "enter the master password for the Software Security Device. I have never set up such a password and have no idea how to proceed. I tried clicking cancel 10 times and the little window stopped appearing so I went to tools and found the place to change the password, but it required me to enter the existing password first, which, of course, I do not have. I have a much older computer upon which I can still access my email, but I'm tired of running up and down stairs. There isn't room in either location to set up the two computers. I hope someone can help me set or reset this password. I am attaching a screen shot of the problem. Oops, it won't attach it in Paint. I've created a copy on Word, but don't know where to click to attach that one.

Chosen solution

See if this helps. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Master_password#Removing_your_master_password

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All Replies (4)

christ1
christ1
  • Top 25 Contributor

Chosen Solution

See if this helps. http://kb.mozillazine.org/Master_password#Removing_your_master_password

kiki-star
kiki-star Question owner

Thank you for the help! I really appreciate it.

Eric
Eric

I tried the suggested solution but I was asked for my master password when I tried to uncheck "Use master password." Since I never had used a master password, of course I can't do this. I have no clue how this became checked.

So what do I do? I haven't been able to use Thunderbird since mid-Aug of 2017. I was told then that an update to Thunderbird had caused the problem. Should I just re-load Thunderbird and if I do, will all the archived messages be lost?

christ1
christ1
  • Top 25 Contributor

ejstruan,

You're posting to a 'Solved' topic. Please start a new topic for your problem. https://support.mozilla.org/questions/new