Your PW needs to be a generated app PW - see https://help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN15241.html.

Settings:

IMAP - Server Name: export.imap.mail.yahoo.com - Port: 993 - Connection Security: SSL/TLS - Authentication method: Normal password

SMTP - Server Name: smtp.mail.yahoo.com - Port: 587 - Connection Security: SSL/TLS - Authentication method: Normal password

Thank-you, Ed.

Your PW needs to be a generated app PW - see https://help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN15241.html.

yahoo requires me to log in to the e-mail account to get that "app PW". I tried that via Firefox on the same new desktop as the Thunderbird in which I'm trying to add the e-mail account. yahoo rejected the login with no reason given. I used the little eye icon so I could see the password that I entered, and it was correct. I assume that if I entered the password incorrectly in that Firefox browser login, yahoo would ask me to try the login again, not reject me after one try.

Can the Firefox login for the "app password" and the Thunderbird in which I'm trying to add the account be different desktops with different operating systems? or do they have to be the same desktop and operating system? The Thunderbird on my old windows-10 desktop has the yahoo e-mail account working fine (at the moment!).

Thank-you, Ed.

Ed said

Your PW needs to be a generated app PW - see https://help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN15241.html.

yahoo requires me to log in to the e-mail account to get that "app PW". I tried that via Firefox on the same new desktop as the Thunderbird in which I'm trying to add the e-mail account. yahoo rejected the login with no reason given. I used the little eye icon so I could see the password that I entered, and it was correct. I assume that if I entered the password incorrectly in that Firefox browser login, yahoo would ask me to try the login again, not reject me after one try.

Can the Firefox login for the "app password" and the Thunderbird in which I'm trying to add the account be different desktops with different operating systems? or do they have to be the same desktop and operating system? The Thunderbird on my old windows-10 desktop has the yahoo e-mail account working fine (at the moment!).

If you can't log into the web interface to get the app PW, do the 'forgot password' thing.

OS shouldn't matter. Can you get the app PW from Saved Passwords on the Win10 PC and try it on Fedora PC?

Thank-you, Ed.

home user said

Thank-you, Ed.

Ed said

Your PW needs to be a generated app PW - see https://help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN15241.html.

yahoo requires me to log in to the e-mail account to get that "app PW". I tried that via Firefox on the same new desktop as the Thunderbird in which I'm trying to add the e-mail account. yahoo rejected the login with no reason given. I used the little eye icon so I could see the password that I entered, and it was correct. I assume that if I entered the password incorrectly in that Firefox browser login, yahoo would ask me to try the login again, not reject me after one try.

Can the Firefox login for the "app password" and the Thunderbird in which I'm trying to add the account be different desktops with different operating systems? or do they have to be the same desktop and operating system? The Thunderbird on my old windows-10 desktop has the yahoo e-mail account working fine (at the moment!).

If you can't log into the web interface to get the app PW, do the 'forgot password' thing.

OS shouldn't matter. Can you get the app PW from Saved Passwords on the Win10 PC and try it on Fedora PC?

1. I see that when I go to the yahoo page that you referenced, when I look at yahoo's instructions, it says: "When creating an app password, use a browser that you've used to sign into Yahoo for several days in a row and avoid using Incognito mode." 2. The yahoo e-mail account works fine in Thunderbird on the old desktop. On the old desktop, using Firefox, I can login to the yahoo e-mail account. But on the new desktop, neither approach works. 3. I've seen many times that yahoo knows which client and operating system I'm using to access my e-mail account. It seems to me that, logically, what's causing the problem is that I'm trying to access my yahoo e-mail from a client-OS combination that I've never used before.

How much of a chance does this have of working: 1. I generate the "app password" on the old desktop. 2. I shut down the old desktop, crawl around on the floor under the desk and table to switch cables around, and power up the new desktop. 3. On the new desktop, I try to create the yahoo e-mail account using the "app password" that was generated on the old desktop. This will take significant time and effort, so I'd like to know it has a good chance of working before I try it. Also, question: does the new "app password" go into the password field in the page I use to create the new account, the password table in settings, or both?

the "forgot password thing": I learned the hard way the there is serious vulnerability in saved passwords and password managers; I seriously avoid those. I'm drowning in passwords that I manually enter. I'd like to avoid changing my password until a last resort.

I do not have an "app password" for the e-mail account on the old desktop.

This:

"1. I generate the "app password" on the old desktop. 2. I shut down the old desktop, crawl around on the floor under the desk and table to switch cables around, and power up the new desktop. 3. On the new desktop, I try to create the yahoo e-mail account using the "app password" that was generated on the old desktop."

worked, in this case.

For some of my e-mail accounts, I needed to do the above. For other e-mail accounts, I did not. I do not know why it varied from one e-mail coount to another.

For any yahoo e-mail programmers/managers that might see this, this thread's issue has me seriously concerned. Not only did I have trouble adding a yahoo account to Thunderbird on a new desktop, I was also blocked logging into my yahoo e-mail in a browser on the new desktop. If I had only one desktop and no other way of accessing e-mail, and the desktop suddenly failed, I'd get a new desktop. But then how would I access my yahoo e-mail? A change in e-mail client or operating system, or even hardware, would totally block me. Security is very important. But it can be taken too far.

Ed: I thank you for your replies. They did help. They got me thinking in a way that led to the solution.

Totally can't understand why you couldn't log into webmail on the new PC. Can you do that now that TB is working?

Totally can't understand why you couldn't log into webmail on the new PC. Can you do that now that TB is working?

That makes 2 of us.

I only tried 2 of my yahoo accounts. They now work in Firefox. But that apparently broke something in Thunderbird.

I tried to send a message to someone in Thunderbird, using one of the 2 accounts that I had earlier tried in Firefox. It asked for a password. It locked up. I had to totally exit Thunderbird. This happened 3 times. I had to delete that e-mail account, and re-create it. The re-created account is missing the "Drafts" folder. How do I recover the "Drafts" folder?

Ed said

Totally can't understand why you couldn't log into webmail on the new PC. Can you do that now that TB is working?

That makes 2 of us.

I only tried 2 of my yahoo accounts. They now work in Firefox. But that apparently broke something in Thunderbird.

I tried to send a message to someone in Thunderbird, using one of the 2 accounts that I had earlier tried in Firefox. It asked for a password. It locked up. I had to totally exit Thunderbird. This happened 3 times. I had to delete that e-mail account, and re-create it. The re-created account is missing the "Drafts" folder. How do I recover the "Drafts" folder?

Maybe it's not subscribed? On the main mail screen in the L. column, R. click the account (just above the Inbox) > Subscribe

> Maybe it's not subscribed? On the main mail screen in the L. column, R. click the account (just above the Inbox) > Subscribe

I found the folder. It is not with the other "default" folders (Inbox, Sent, Bulk, and so on) where it belongs. It's alphabetically among the other personal folders starting with 'D'.

I tried again to send a message. Once again, it asked for a password, and then locked up. I had to exit Thunderbird.

Do I need to delete and re-add the account with a new app password again?

> Maybe it's not subscribed? On the main mail screen in the L. column, R. click the account (just above the Inbox) > Subscribe I found the folder. It is not with the other "default" folders (Inbox, Sent, Bulk, and so on) where it belongs. It's alphabetically among the other personal folders starting with 'D'. I tried again to send a message. Once again, it asked for a password, and then locked up. I had to exit Thunderbird. Do I need to delete and re-add the account with a new app password again?

I guess you could try to re-add it.