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disabling Exchange Password Required notification

I have an Office 365 Exchange account that's only permitted on the corporate network. Mail is closed and even if I open it the account shows as disconnected/offline. Despite all of this, the OS seems to continuously try to sync with Exchange (unsuccessfully), and pops up an "Exchange Password Required" notification. I can close the notification, but it comes up a few seconds later, forever, unless I completely disable notifications (do-not-disturb).


This isn't a "Mail" notification--there's no app associated with this, so there's no obvious way to disable it in the notification settings.


Any thoughts?


MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Mar 21, 2020 9:15 PM

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Posted on Sep 23, 2020 8:49 AM

I think I did it! This was super annoying to me, too, and I didn't want to keep logging into the VPN to get it to stop the notifications.


Go to Mail -> Preferences -> selected the exchange account -> server settings -> uncheck "automatically manage connection settings"


Let me know if that works. It seems to be working for me. Plus I'm still able to log into the VPN normally and mail automatically connects.

12 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 23, 2020 8:49 AM in response to erikselz

I think I did it! This was super annoying to me, too, and I didn't want to keep logging into the VPN to get it to stop the notifications.


Go to Mail -> Preferences -> selected the exchange account -> server settings -> uncheck "automatically manage connection settings"


Let me know if that works. It seems to be working for me. Plus I'm still able to log into the VPN normally and mail automatically connects.

Apr 13, 2020 12:52 AM in response to Nicholas_B2

I and many other people are in the same situation. The question was not whether or not to change permissions to access the Exchange account from on or off campus, but rather how to disable the notification. Because it is a System notification, turning off "Mail" or "Outlook" notifications does not suppress the notifications.


Contacting each and every local IT department is not a good solution, 1 because the notification behavior is a local behavior on each portable computer, and 2 because they are unlikely to care about such a "minor" problem since it doesn't affect functionality.


This has been a problem for a long time, and there needs to be a way to disable notifications for a specific *account*, not a specific application.

Mar 24, 2020 3:17 PM in response to i_rina

This suggestion does not work:


You can turn off notifications for Mail, Outlook or Office if they are listed. This should be in System Preferences > Notifications and listed as 'Mail' or 'Office.'


the alerts still appear even if toggled OFF in System Preferences > Notifications. See pic of my Notifications settings below.



and the second suggestion will eliminate my ability to view archived Exchange emails.

May 15, 2020 10:36 AM in response to erikselz

This is a significant annoyance in a telecommuting world.


I recall a recent OS update announcement claiming to address this specific issue; but the issue was not in fact addressed. I have the same problem. I have read the unhelpful recommendations to turn off notifications for Mail (but I don't want to turn off all of my Mail notifications, just the Exchange password notification) and to disable the Exchange account )but I do not want to disable the Exchange account, just disable the the password notification). Of course, the notification is only triggered when Mail is looking for the Exchange account (which is my secure corporate email account), but I am not at that moment linked to my company's network via VPN. Given the current circumstances, the only way to manage this is to constantly toggle Enable/Disable the Exchange account or Do Not Disturb On/Off as I sign on/off of my corporate VPN. Both are "dumb" fixes because they require increased clicks and reduced overall functionality of Mail.

Aug 30, 2020 12:26 PM in response to erikselz

I had the same annoying problem with constant notifications from my Exchange account while disconnected from my campus VPN. I discovered that if I deselect "Calendars" in the System Preferences Accounts pane for my Exchange Account then the notifications stop (I only had "Mail" and "Calendar" selected and none of the other options). Of course, not having my Exchange calendar also displayed on my Calendar is very inconvenient. So then I turned "Calendar" back on in the System Preferences Accounts pane and instead went to the Preferences pane in the Calendar app and played around with the "Refresh Calendars" setting. Refresh "Every minute" makes the annoying notification pop right up (like every minute!) whereas refresh "Manually" makes it go away completely. I suppose if one could tolerate the annoying notification once an hour, then refreshing "Every hour" would be a reasonable compromise.

May 15, 2020 11:20 AM in response to ECSteele

Agree and both are not ideal solutions.


One slightly mitigated workaround I have is that I noticed two things trigger the Exchange notification: (1) Having the Mail service in the Exchange account active AND Apple Mail app open, or (2) Having the Contacts service in the Exchange account active, regardless of whether the Mail app is open or closed. Since I don't always need the corporate Contacts directory, I usually keep this unchecked, which eliminates trigger 2. And when I am not connected to VPN, I quit the Mail app, which eliminates trigger 1. I still have to go in and manually turn on the Contacts service when I need to email someone who's not in my local contacts, but this is rare and makes it more tolerable.

Mar 23, 2020 7:11 AM in response to erikselz

Hello erikselz,


Welcome to the Apple Support Communities. I understand you want to to turn off the constant prompts for the Exchange password. I'll do what I can to help.


To verify where the notification is coming from, it might appear in the Notification Center: Use notifications on your Mac


There are a few ways this can be disabled, one of which you have found already using Do Not Disturb:

  • You can turn off notifications for Mail, Outlook or Office if they are listed. This should be in System Preferences > Notifications and listed as 'Mail' or 'Office.'
  • Disable the account entirely if you use the Mail app for Mac. Open the Mail app, then go to Mail in the menu bar then Preferences > Accounts. Choose the Exchange account and uncheck 'Enable this account.'


Kind regards.

Mar 25, 2020 10:22 AM in response to erikselz

erikselz,


Thank you for that information. This seems to be expected behavior since you are not on the corporate network. Since this specific account only works while on your corporate network, it is expected that it will constantly check and try to verify the credentials of the account until it connects. If you have any additional concerns, please reach out to your IT department or reach out to Microsoft directly: Contact Us - Microsoft Support


Take care.

Aug 5, 2020 4:54 AM in response to erikselz

Not exactly helpful but if you're having this issue on macOS, leaving the "Exchange Password Required" notification there untouched seems to prevent further notifications from popping up, i.e. don't click on either "Close" or "Continue". I know it's annoying to have that pop-up there but it stops further notification sounds / alerts, which kinda helps, kinda.

disabling Exchange Password Required notification

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