Windows 10 reached EOS (end of support) on October 14, 2025. If you are on Windows 10, see this article.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More
Open

AOL OAuth2 authentication fails

jbeulich

After upgrading from the previous ESR series (140.17.0esr) I can no longer access my mailbox, due to the OAuth2 authentication process failing.

As to items on https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/thunderbird-and-yahoo: 1, 2, 4, and 5 I have double- and triple-checked. 3 is unclear to me: I'm unaware of anything hidden, yet at the same time I would have expected the site to ask me for a 2nd verification step (e.g. sending a numeric token to my mobile phone) after having entered my password. Whether that step isn't shown or whether the failure (see attached picture) occurs ahead of this I cannot tell.

Needless to say that this occurs at about the worst of all possible times, where I will need my private email much more because of soon losing my business one.

After upgrading from the previous ESR series (140.17.0esr) I can no longer access my mailbox, due to the OAuth2 authentication process failing. As to items on https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/thunderbird-and-yahoo: 1, 2, 4, and 5 I have double- and triple-checked. 3 is unclear to me: I'm unaware of anything hidden, yet at the same time I would have expected the site to ask me for a 2nd verification step (e.g. sending a numeric token to my mobile phone) after having entered my password. Whether that step isn't shown or whether the failure (see attached picture) occurs ahead of this I cannot tell. Needless to say that this occurs at about the worst of all possible times, where I will need my private email much more because of soon losing my business one.
Ama-screenshot ananyekiwe

All Replies (6)

Are cookies allowed in Thunderbird? Are you running a local web server, or any other service listening on TCP port 80? If so, turn it off. Are you using a VPN? If so, turn it off.

If 2-step authentication is turned on, I'd suggest to use an authenticator app as the second step. It's way more reliable than text message or email, and also more secure.

Okulungisiwe ngu christ1

Cookies are enabled ("Accept cookies from sites" is enabled). No local web server, no VPN. As to an authenticator app - that would require a smartphone aiui, which I don't possess.

Please confirm whether 2FA is turned on for your AOL account, and if so, which method (text, email, etc.) is being used.

Forgot about that: Don't use an app password, OAuth2 requires the main account password.

Okulungisiwe ngu christ1

I didn't turn on 2FA manually. When signing in from e.g. unusual locations, for quite some time I've been offered a choice between email (to another account), a text message to my mobile phone, or I forget what the 3rd option is. During the OAuth2 process, however, things don't get that far - the error appears right after entering the password.

See if this topic helps. It doesn't offer a definitive solution though. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1610309

Yeah, the usePrivateBrowser thing I had found elsewhere, but it didn't make a difference here.

Buza umbuzo

You must log in to your account to reply to posts. Please start a new question, if you do not have an account yet.