Suddenly can't download emails from my AT&T/Yahoo account.
I have been using TBird for more than 20 years and suddenly I can't download incoming email. I can send without problem, but when I click "Get Messages" nothing happens. The message box at the very bottom of my TBird screen says I'm connected to pop.mail.yahoo.com, but it's apparent it's not even trying to search for or download new mail. Usually a green line appears at the bottom of the screen as it searches, but that doesn't happen. Nor does it check for new email when I open TBird. It worked fine yesterday... What happened?
I can't set up a new account; this is the only email address I have.
I can read and reply to my email through the online inbox, but I need to be able to download those messages.
I tried going to AT&T/Bellsouth/Yahoo to get the latest email settings, but that part of their website seems to be down and I get "sorry about that" error messages.
I'm running the latest version of Windows 10, but as far as I know there haven't been any updates in the past week or so.
HELP!! I use TBird for my business and this is going to turn into a major problem very soon.
Thanks!
Chosen solution
I finally had to contact AT&T Tech Support via phone to get the problem solved; I was in way over my head technically. They mostly used sfhowes' and Wayne Mery's information.
Essentially, what they had to do was turn off SLS in ESET. I have the option of leaving it off, or turning it off when I used TBird. Clunky, but doable until ESET gets their act together.
My thanks to all who tried to help!
Read this answer in context 👍 0All Replies (7)
Since you're using Yahoo's server, have you changed Account Settings in Thunderbird to use OAuth2 as the authentication method?
What server settings are you currently using for: Port Connection Security
I'm using "normal password" as the authentication method. I just tried changing that to OAuth2, but it made no difference.
Incoming port is 995
Connection security is SSL/TLS
What I don't quite understand is why those settings would change overnight.
They do change in an instant on the provider's side. You may have missed the memo from Yahoo, requiring email clients to use an app-specific password if they don't support Yahoo's OAuth2 authentication. Thunderbird, however, supports Yahoo's OAuth2 authentication for both POP and IMAP access and that is what should be in use. Open Thunderbird's password vault as per Password Manager - Remember, delete and change passwords in Thunderbird and remove all entries for the ATT/Yahoo account, then change Authentication Method to OAuth2 and restart Thunderbird.
I did as you suggested; nothing changes. TBird still doesn't log in to my ATT/Yahoo account, even after I deleted the passwords, changed the authentication method to OAuth2 and restarted TBird. The message window says I'm connected to pop.mail.yahoo.com, but it doesn't request a password as it should since I deleted them, and the green line that indicates it's trying to log in to the server doesn't show up.
I can still *send* from TBird, however. As expected, it asked for user ID & password, then sent the email.
Modified by rontiara
Use inbound.att.net on 995, SSL/TLS, and outbound.att.net on 465, SSL/TLS, as AT&T recommends, then create a secure mail key and use it in place of the account password, with normal password authentication.
https://www.att.com/support/article/dsl-high-speed/KM1010523/
If you are using ESET/NOD32 security/AV then probability is very high it is causing your problems. According to their forums, you should temporarily disable SSL until they solve the problem per https://support.eset.com/en/kb3126-disable-ssl-filtering-in-eset-windows-products?ref=esf - the problem is being reported by dozens of users https://forum.eset.com/topic/26517-problems-with-thunderbird-and-imaps/ https://forum.eset.com/discover/
Chosen Solution
I finally had to contact AT&T Tech Support via phone to get the problem solved; I was in way over my head technically. They mostly used sfhowes' and Wayne Mery's information.
Essentially, what they had to do was turn off SLS in ESET. I have the option of leaving it off, or turning it off when I used TBird. Clunky, but doable until ESET gets their act together.
My thanks to all who tried to help!