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Password for email accounts in Thunderbird for Android are frequently reverting back to old passwords and preventing mail from syncing

Thunderbird for Android Save passwords
Platform34 replied
greg254
greg254

Greetings, I must say I'm perplexed and dumfounded with my problem. Without rhyme or reason, when I check my email throughout the day I will notice that the email has not synced for a period of time. I then go to check my settings, in particular, the fetching email setting and the sending email setting, and when I test them to determine that they are working I get the screen that explains there is a problem with syncing. I then look at the passwords and they appear to be old passwords that are no longer used nor valid. I delete the old passwords, input the current and valid passwords and then test the connection and synchronization and they rapidly sync without any errors. I have 4 emails registered in my Thunderbird account and it happens randomly to all 4of the emails. I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone. Needless to say, I spend a bit of time continually having to go to settings, delete the old password, enter the new one, and then everyone good. At least for a short while. I'm not sure if I stumped you guys with this one, or, hopefully, someone else has experienced the same thing. Duplicity if this problem excited me, not because the problem exists, but because sometime else has experienced the same thing and I would feel at ease knowing that I am not going insane. I hope you guys can help me with this. Please let me know whatever steps you think I should take to start sleuthing for a solution. My fingers are crossed. Also, I would like to extend many thanks and my gratitude for the tireless effort you all contribute selflessly to the support and maintenance of a wonderful app, and the continual persistence of if the project for all these years. Oh I almost forgot to mention that I saw a link for the opportunity to use/test the Beta Version, but suddenly I am unsure a to whether I should proceed with setting the beta up. I'm not sure if it will complicate the potential for a solution to my problem, or if the Beta App is completely separate and isolated from the Current stable release. If you have a chance, let me know how I should handle the Beta install. A simple STOP! Do not install, or it's okay, carry on. Have a great day! Gregory Gonzalez. greg@uglytexan.com

Greetings, I must say I'm perplexed and dumfounded with my problem. Without rhyme or reason, when I check my email throughout the day I will notice that the email has not synced for a period of time. I then go to check my settings, in particular, the fetching email setting and the sending email setting, and when I test them to determine that they are working I get the screen that explains there is a problem with syncing. I then look at the passwords and they appear to be old passwords that are no longer used nor valid. I delete the old passwords, input the current and valid passwords and then test the connection and synchronization and they rapidly sync without any errors. I have 4 emails registered in my Thunderbird account and it happens randomly to all 4of the emails. I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone. Needless to say, I spend a bit of time continually having to go to settings, delete the old password, enter the new one, and then everyone good. At least for a short while. I'm not sure if I stumped you guys with this one, or, hopefully, someone else has experienced the same thing. Duplicity if this problem excited me, not because the problem exists, but because sometime else has experienced the same thing and I would feel at ease knowing that I am not going insane. I hope you guys can help me with this. Please let me know whatever steps you think I should take to start sleuthing for a solution. My fingers are crossed. Also, I would like to extend many thanks and my gratitude for the tireless effort you all contribute selflessly to the support and maintenance of a wonderful app, and the continual persistence of if the project for all these years. Oh I almost forgot to mention that I saw a link for the opportunity to use/test the Beta Version, but suddenly I am unsure a to whether I should proceed with setting the beta up. I'm not sure if it will complicate the potential for a solution to my problem, or if the Beta App is completely separate and isolated from the Current stable release. If you have a chance, let me know how I should handle the Beta install. A simple STOP! Do not install, or it's okay, carry on. Have a great day! Gregory Gonzalez. greg@uglytexan.com

All Replies (1)

Platform34
Platform34
  • Top 25 Contributor

Hi Greg

Your case with password reversion is not one I've seen reported before but lets see if we can troubleshoot it.

First try and confirm if the correct passwords are being written successfully to the phones database / persistent storage. The successful connection doesn't prove this. It could be using the password held in the phone's memory.

Troubleshooting

The aim is to see if there's any issue or corruption of the apps database or underlying storage.

Testing.

  1. Change an account's password and complete a synchronisation.
  2. Close and reopen the setting screens for the incoming and outgoing server.
  3. Verify the passwords are correct on each.
  4. Terminate the app from androids recent app list.
  5. Open the app and verify the passwords are correct.
  6. Reboot the phone.
  7. Open the app and verify the passwords are correct.

Repeat the above test but instead of a changing password, try a small setting change such as account colour.

Are the changes retained and persist?

Thunderbird Beta

Installing Thunderbird beta is a good idea. It will allow you to test a fresh install without uninstalling the stable version yet. It CAN be installed side by side with the stable version.

  • Configure its settings manually or import via QR code from Thunderbird desktop (if you use it).
  • Don't import settings from the stable app or a file exported from it. (In case the data is corrupt).

Try the two apps in parallel for a period and see if the second app has the same issue.

Testing using K9-Mail is an alternative to using the TB Beta version. It's identical to Thunderbird aside from a red theme colour and logo. Its build by the TB team from the same code base. K9 and TB version numbers are the same. It can also be installed side by side with your current TB installation.

Modified by Platform34

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