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Unable to connect Thunderbird to one of my established email accounts

  • 2 replies
  • 1 has this problem
  • 7 views
  • Last reply by oggo33

oggo33
oggo33
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I've enjoyed using Thunderbird for my three ATT/Yahoo email accounts for decades now. But Thunderbird dropped one of my accounts (the others have continued to work fine) several months ago and have been unable to reconnect - even after an extended "reset" consult with a patient and knowledgeable ATT/Yahoo tech (you know...POP - IMAP - SMTP etc.). After this, my only hope was that the next Thunderbird update might resolve the problem - but that hasn't happen. I hate the thought of having to leave the Thunderbird family, but despite my research, this problem remains unsolvable to me.

I've enjoyed using Thunderbird for my three ATT/Yahoo email accounts for decades now. But Thunderbird dropped one of my accounts (the others have continued to work fine) several months ago and have been unable to reconnect - even after an extended "reset" consult with a patient and knowledgeable ATT/Yahoo tech (you know...POP - IMAP - SMTP etc.). After this, my only hope was that the next Thunderbird update might resolve the problem - but that hasn't happen. I hate the thought of having to leave the Thunderbird family, but despite my research, this problem remains unsolvable to me.

Chosen solution

What makes you think it's a problem with Thunderbird that needs to be fixed through its updates? What you need is generate and use what ATT calls a Secure Mail Key (an app-specific password) as the password that Thunderbird needs to connect to ATT servers. Your main ATT password won't work with Thunderbird. If you're using Yahoo servers, you will need to change Tbird's authentication method to OAuth2 instead of Normal Password for the affected account. See https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1288812

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Stans
Stans
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Chosen Solution

What makes you think it's a problem with Thunderbird that needs to be fixed through its updates? What you need is generate and use what ATT calls a Secure Mail Key (an app-specific password) as the password that Thunderbird needs to connect to ATT servers. Your main ATT password won't work with Thunderbird. If you're using Yahoo servers, you will need to change Tbird's authentication method to OAuth2 instead of Normal Password for the affected account. See https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1288812

oggo33
oggo33 Question owner
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Thanks for the guidance. Couldn't get this particular account to function in OAuth2, but the Secure Mail Key worked just fine.