Setting up connections to my gmail accounts (I have two), something Thunderbird is unable to verify my password. I've verified addresses and passwords.
I have one personal and one professional email address at gmail.com.
I had a motherboard fail two weeks ago and just got my computer rebuilt.
I'm reinstalling all of my old software and I've used Thunderbird forever.
My non-Gmail email address set up just fine (at "inbox.com") but when I went through the wizard for setting up my gmail addresses both of them failed with this message:
Configuration could not be verified - is the username or password wrong?
Bear in mind, to get this far, I had to enter my username and password in a pair of Google verification panels.
I tried this a few times with increasing deliberation and care and it just doesn't work.
I realize that Thunderbird doesn't care about passwords, per se, but Thunderbird's interface with Google may be at issue.
It feels like it's lost its mind regarding Gmail's configuration options, it's not sending the information to Google correctly, or it's not parsing the information back from Google correctly.
I've set this up probably fifteen times in the past few years on my computer and on those of people I've helped with theirs and I've never seen this before.
Going to Gmail through the web, I can get in just fine.
Using the same information, I can't get there through Thunderbird.
All Replies (6)
Are your accounts POP or IMAP? TB version? Is the authentication 'normal password' or OAuth2? What is the security/AV app, and is the TB profile folder excluded? Using a VPN? Is two-step verification on for the account?
My accounts at Gmail are . . . they're Gmail accounts. I believe in the past they've always connected as IMAP.
I've never had to do anything other than connect them to Thunderbird before - provide the name and password and click the button.
I'm not using a VPN.
I'm using the same AV I was using the last six times I did this with no problem and my non-Gmail account connected just fine: Bitdefender (paid version) with SafeFiles, VPN, and Ransomware Protection turned off.
I don't know what authorization protocol is supposed to be in use at Gmail for this because I've never had to set it up manually before.
I don't know what authorization protocol Thunderbird assumes is in use at Gmail for this because I'm not privy to that information.
Thunderbird version is 68.6.0 (32 bit).
I never made any two-step verification for my Google accounts, but always when I've connected Thunderbird for the first time (for the first time successfully) a Google window has opened up to ask for my email address and password to allow Thunderbird access (as it did this time - and the same email address and password that I had just entered in Thunderbird cleared Google just fine but Thunderbird gave me the error message above).
This had to have been something transient at Google.
I just walked through it again and it worked just fine.
Very odd.
I appreciate the responses, but this looks like it was not on Thunderbird's end.
You're apparently using the default settings applied by the account setup wizard, which are IMAP and OAuth2 authentication. As for Bitdefender, it's probably a good idea to exclude the TB exe from BD's Advanced Threat Defense module:
I am not expert enough to understand this conversation but I think I have the same problem
last year I started having an issue with two of my several gmail addresses that I use on Thunderbird, being told "Sending of password for user surarivap@gmail.com did not succeed. Mail server pop.gmail.com responded: Username and password not accepted."
I finally found out this was google security blocking Thunderbird and I turned on Less secure apps in google and I think that was what fixed it. But I had two other gmails that were getting thru
Today I got a notice from google of a security breach and I should change my password on one of my addresses, one of the ones I had trouble with last year. I did so and now I'm getting that quoted message again on that address and the one that gave me trouble last year too. I am able to use these addresses on my phone and kindle fire.
I checked google and the less secure appt permission is still on.
Is there something I need to change in Thunderbird? I've looked at my setting for that email and they don't seem to differ from the addresses that aren't giving me trouble
If you changed the password, delete the old ones in Options/Security/Passwords/Saved Passwords, restart TB, and enter the new password when prompted. To avoid issues with Google turning the less-secure apps access off, set the authentication method for the incoming and outgoing servers to OAuth2, before you restart TB. When prompted, enter the new password in the OAuth browser window.
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Using_Gmail_with_Thunderbird_and_Mozilla_Suite