GoldenA

Q: "Mail can't connect to the account 'Gmail'"

This issue arose this morning. Mail requests my Gmail account password and, after having entered it numerous times, continuously fails to connect to the account. Mail is failing to connect to both the incoming and outgoing servers, despite the correct information being entered for each. Furthermore, Mail now fails to connect to the IMAP server of the added iCloud account. I'm on a 2012 iMac running Mountain Lion and Mail 6.3. I've tried readding the Gmail account, to no avail. Any ideas?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion, 13-inch, Mid 2009

Posted on May 15, 2013 11:02 AM

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Q: "Mail can't connect to the account 'Gmail'"

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  • by NBW,

    NBW NBW Mar 24, 2014 6:09 AM in response to GoldenA
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 24, 2014 6:09 AM in response to GoldenA

    Had this happen to me this morning from both my iOS devices and Mac OS X mail. So I logged into GMail using the web interface and in the process of loading my inbox GMail put up a dialog which said they wanted me to respond to question about how I use the account (primarily for business or home) and whether I was the only one who accessed it. The dialog said it was to 'enhance my security' but it felt more like profiling for marketing purposes. At the bottom of the dialog there was a link to "Skip" the questionaire. I clicked on that and my inbox appeared. After that both Mac OS X mail and iOS mail stopped complaining about being unable to connect things went back to normal. So it would appear that this dialog is interfering with the iOS and Mac Mail clients.

     

    -Noah

  • by chuubie,

    chuubie chuubie May 18, 2014 9:20 AM in response to GoldenA
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 18, 2014 9:20 AM in response to GoldenA

    I had problems (got prompted continuously for my password, and couldn't send out email) until I went into Mail preferences and unchecked Outgoing Mail use only this server. After I unchecked, I saved my changes and it worked!

     

    Mail_cant_connect_to_the_account_Gmail.png

  • by pja131,

    pja131 pja131 May 20, 2014 6:30 AM in response to GoldenA
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 20, 2014 6:30 AM in response to GoldenA

    I am having the same problem but only on my Macbook, not on my iPad or iPhone.

    For a start - I'm "technologically challenged."  Can anyone tell me what and where"two-step verification" is? Many thanks.

  • by saintjohnsue,

    saintjohnsue saintjohnsue May 20, 2014 11:31 AM in response to GoldenA
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 20, 2014 11:31 AM in response to GoldenA

    I just had this problem and I did something much less complicated;

     

    log out of google/gmail

    log out of Mail

    log back into gmail...

    log back into Mail...

     

    Mac Mail couldn't accept the new password without a clean slate I guess.

  • by pja131,

    pja131 pja131 May 20, 2014 12:09 PM in response to saintjohnsue
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 20, 2014 12:09 PM in response to saintjohnsue

    Thank you, but can't seem to do it. One problem is that I never changed my password - it's still the same one. 

    I don't even log in or out (I know - probably a mistake).  I just have a list of my different accounts set up, and I just click on which I want to use. Gmail is the only one giving me a problem. Funny thing is that I've been using gmail without a problem, but when I tried today, I got that message, and I had changed nothing. But I can get it on my other devices.

  • by twlaakso,

    twlaakso twlaakso May 26, 2014 9:01 PM in response to GoldenA
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 26, 2014 9:01 PM in response to GoldenA

    I've been having the exact same problems.

     

    I tried EVERYTHING in this chain of messages!!!

     

    This is what worked for me.

    I just put the complete email address on the "login" information at the SMTP configuration and it works!

     

    I'll give an example:

    >Open the mail app

    >>Click on the "Mail" tab in the top toolbar of the Mail app and go to preferences. Another window will open.

    >>>In this window click on the Accounts tab.

    >>>>Next go to the tab next to Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP): which is the last option under the Accounts tab. and click on Edit SMTP Server List...

    >>>>>Here is where I made my change. At the bottom where it says User Name and Password my username was JohnDoe and needed to be JohnDoes@gmail.com

     

    Once I changed the username from JohnDoe to Johndoe@gmail.com everything has been perfect.

     

    Hope this helps. I've been trying to fix this for weeks on my system and came by this method.


  • by pja131,

    pja131 pja131 May 27, 2014 3:57 AM in response to twlaakso
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 27, 2014 3:57 AM in response to twlaakso

    Many thanks for your reply and the time you took to write it.  Unfortunately, it didn't

    T work for me. Did exactly as you said, added the @gmail.com, etc., but no change. 

    I am away now, so I think I'll just wait until I get back to New York and go to the Genius Bar.

    Fortunately, it works on my iPad.  Thanks again.

  • by Jonathna8,

    Jonathna8 Jonathna8 May 29, 2014 1:46 PM in response to GoldenA
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 29, 2014 1:46 PM in response to GoldenA

    Apple Mail problem.png

    I found the solution to the problem for me. Maybe it'll help some of y'all. I went to Apple Mail > prefrences > Accounts > Account Information > Edit SMTP user list (under the drop down menu by "Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP):" My username was missing the "@gmail.com". I added that, hit save, and went to the Apple Mail app. It asked me to enter the password one more time and it worked!

  • by MacElvis,

    MacElvis MacElvis Jun 4, 2014 7:46 PM in response to GoldenA
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 4, 2014 7:46 PM in response to GoldenA

    This blows big time. I tried everything listed and NOTHING works. Guess that's it for "Mail". Too bad, I used to like it.

  • by Iamyoursecret,

    Iamyoursecret Iamyoursecret Jul 29, 2014 2:27 AM in response to MacElvis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jul 29, 2014 2:27 AM in response to MacElvis

    when you access google there's two different passwords with 2 step verification I've noticed this when asked to log into my google account it's not the same password as my email account this is only because of places where google comes into play like YouTube Try entering the same password for google services like YouTube only after you've entered your email account password this fixed the issue for me I was up all might wondering what was going on!

     

    IF it it doesn't work go and change your passwords for google not gmail

    goodluck

  • by mypalrobot,

    mypalrobot mypalrobot Aug 8, 2014 8:22 AM in response to GoldenA
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 8, 2014 8:22 AM in response to GoldenA

    I've just recently come across this issue as well - I reset my password through gmail on a separate device because of a recent hack attempt, and haven't been able to log in through Apple Mail since.  However, I went through my security settings on a separate device, and it appears that Google is deliberately blocking my Apple Mail computer.  This may be the same issue many of you are also experiencing, and might be worth checking in to.  I haven't yet discovered a way to unblock the IP address (yes, I've asked gmail to 'trust' that computer, but it didn't help), but I'm hoping it's a time-sensitive security measure to make sure my account isn't being hacked again.

  • by LooseNeutral,Helpful

    LooseNeutral LooseNeutral Aug 29, 2014 5:44 PM in response to GoldenA
    Level 1 (13 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 29, 2014 5:44 PM in response to GoldenA

    You've got to watch out for Googles tricky "Use Less Secure Apps" setting in your account, as I just just spent quite a few hours coming unhinged. that setting must be enabled to allow imap to work with Apple mail. I really like that little scare tactic from the GooGoblins.

    Click on your account picture

    select  Account from the drop down

    next to Personal info on the top menu items, select Security

    Look at bottom left pane named Account permissions - Access for less secure apps select Settings

    Select Enable

    Select Done

    ............

     

     

  • by ixmati,

    ixmati ixmati Sep 9, 2014 11:14 PM in response to GoldenA
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 9, 2014 11:14 PM in response to GoldenA

    I think there are at least three different issues addressed in this thread that may appear to have similar symptoms, but are not necessarily fully related. If you're having a problem, you are likely only having one of the issues, although you could possibly be encountering several or all of them, but each would need to be addressed and solved independently.

     

    1) You can get email in Apple Mail, but can't send email.

    This is the simplest problem to diagnose and solve. If Apple Mail keeps asking you for a password to send email, but you are able to receive emails in Apple Mail, likely your settings to send emails are not correct. Some of the replies above refer to this issue and how to solve it. Likely you just need to make sure your username, password and server settings for Apple Mail > Settings > Accounts > Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) are correct. For example, if your account is with google, your username is likely a full email address like "name@domain.com" not just "name". If you don't know what server setting to use, your email provider (eg, google, yahoo, etc) should have help pages helping you know the right settings.

     

    2) You can't get or send email in Apple Mail

    Often experienced by Apple Mail continually asking you for a password to even get mail. This issue is most likely to be one of the other two major issues described in this thread:

     

    2.1) You are using "two-factor authentication" with google or another email provider

    You should already know if you are using two-factor authentication, because if you are, you will be in the habit of entering your password and a special code sent via text to your phone every time you log in to your email using a web browser. You can confirm if you are using two-factor authentication by logging in to your google (or other provider) account in a web browser and visiting the security settings of your account. There is a setting that will show if two-factor authentication is on or disabled. In this case, review the replies in this thread that have to do with two-factor authentication and make sure you use google or your other email provider to issue a special device password for whatever computer you are using and you are using that device password in Apple Mail rather than your normal password. You will likely need to use that special device password for that specific computer in the Apple Mail settings to both receive and send email (ie, enter it in two different places for the account). That all sounds like a hassle and it is, but if you do get it set up, it is more secure as no one would be able to log in to your email unless they had access to your computer or knew your password and had your phone.

     

    2.2) Your Mac keychain is corrupted or incorrect

    In this case, your local Mac storehouse of usernames and passwords is corrupted/incorrect for some reason and you should follow the advice of the replies in this thread that have to do with that. It just means the local copy of your username and password is incorrect and needs to be deleted and replaced with the correct, uncorrupted information.

  • by GLee719,

    GLee719 GLee719 Sep 18, 2014 12:35 AM in response to ixmati
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 18, 2014 12:35 AM in response to ixmati

    Doesn't work for me.  Tried full domain name.  Tried deleting all accounts and setup again.  Tried forcing SSL ports.  Tried deleting SMTP server list and rebuild them.  Tried deleting passwords and rebuilding them.  Checked Google settings.  Nothing worked.  My problem is I can get mail and work the IMAP part, but I cannot send email.  All 3 accounts failed the same way.

     

    Funny thing is, I did not change anything on my computer or on Google.  This just stopped working 2 days ago.

     

    Screen Shot 2014-09-18 at 3.02.06 PM.jpg

  • by Twitchin Kitten,

    Twitchin Kitten Twitchin Kitten Sep 18, 2014 7:05 AM in response to LooseNeutral
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Apple Pay
    Sep 18, 2014 7:05 AM in response to LooseNeutral

    Thank you for this. I was having the same issue from a new account yesterday.

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