Updating OSX Mail for AOL Security

Dang, getting old, just did this a week or less ago to reinstitute a 22 year old AOL account... I can't recall where the App specific PW is entered.

Ah, it's not entered in Mail...

How to use this app password

1. Go to “System Preferences” on your Mac device
2. Click on “Internet Accounts” and select your AOL account
3. Click on “Details” to update your account info
4. Copy the app password above and paste it into the password field

But it doesn't work the second time here to enter the PW... AOL Mail still working in Mail App after generating a new password & not being able to enter it anywhere.

PS. I was shocked that I remembered to original PW after 22 years of no use!

Create and manage third-party app passwords

Learn when an app password is necessary to use and how to generate one for third-party email apps.

Some older third-party email apps (that do not use our AOL-branded sign in page) require you to enter a single password for login credentials. If you've activated 2-step verification for your AOL account, you'll need to generate and use an "app password" to access AOL Mail from these apps.

1. Sign in and go to the AOL Account security page.

2. Click Generate app password or Manage app passwords.

3. Select your app from the drop down menu and click Generate.

4. Follow the instructions below the password.

- Be sure to enter the password into your app without any spaces.

5. Click Done.

6. Use this app password and your email address to sign in to your email app.

Remove an app password - Click Manage app passwords and then click the Delete icon  to stop using an app password.

You likely need to remove the old entry from Keychain Access.

In Keychain Access, Login keychain, search for the entry for your email account with AOL. Delete it.

You don't need to delete entries where you merely use your email address as a username for other services.

These instructions don't work for Mac Mail. Once the password is generated in AOL, and you go to Internet accounts in system preferences, there is no place to enter the password when clicking on account details. But those are the instructions given out by AOL.

I deleted my AOL internet account in System Preferences and checked to see that there were no related keychain entries. I then generated an app password as per AOL instructions. However when adding AOL mail account to Mac Mail, the account would get created but would not connect - it would just time out after a few minutes.

Deleted internet account again but this time I added the AOL account back using "Other Mail Account..." There was a password entry box using this. Worked instantly!

I jumped through the AOL hoop on my Mac - Step 3 with the goofy password. Must I also do the same thing on my iPhones and iPads or will AOL get the message on all three devices? Does anyone know? I tend to ignore AOL email so I am late to do this. Thanks!

You will have to do this for each device that you have. I did this on my iPhone, the instructions provided by AOL work just fine. The only exception was setting up Mac mail, I had to go and enable a password to use the app.

THANK YOU! I am just doing it on my iPhone. Logged into AOL with normal AOL password and it's asking me if I want to save it on the Keychain. Do I save the old password??? This is very frustrating but then I've had the address for 20 years . . .

I did my my Mac first. Now trying to do it on the iPHone but I can't find the 'security page'. I really appreciate the help - I know I am not in the right forum. I have 3 AOL accounts and a tiny keyboard. Have logged into the mail account but see nothing about Security. THANKS if anyone knows . . . .

It appears that by taking AOL's Option #2 IOS mail app refresh route (deleting and reinstalling AOL with a new password) I deleted from my "Notes" app all notes older than two years. I'm not a happy camper. Anyone with any ideas why that would happen? AOL's 800 number led to Verizon-Philippines customer service; they said they would have a tech call me with a response and of course no one did.

On my iPhone I had to do Option #2 as well. Couldn't figure out Option #3 on the iPhone. And when I deleted my NOTES I did notice that there were two slider buttons, one for Mail and one for Notes but I deleted the Notes as well as this whole thing has been very frustrating and I bet, unnecessary.

So, here's what I did. I went to Settings > My Name (Apple ID, iCloud, etc). > iCloud > Notes - TURN THIS ON! I was able to recover some of my notes. It recovered the notes that I wrote on my current iPhone. On my old iPhone 6 I found the other Notes. I don't trade mine in. Hope this helps a little?

THIS WORKS TOO! I had to log into AOL.com on my Mac:

Open the AOL app, make sure you're signed in to the right AOL account, then tap "Inbox" in the top left. From the sidebar, choose "Notes" under Folders. Here, you should find all of your notes from the Notes app. If Notes hasn't synced with AOL yet, you might find the note you're looking for here.

Yes, I do see that all of my notes remain saved in two AOL addresses online. But I don’t see a way to re-“sync” the ones I lost from the iphone by the AOL update. It’s mostly just an irritation with AOL for not explaining what Option #2 would do: first make you think they were all lost (I didn’t realize they were automatically synced when created); and then decline to re-sync anything older than two years. I don’t hear you suggesting a way to bring those back other than taking the time to copy and save them from old entries under new dates.

Sorry, I did do it recently myself but don't clearly remember where I pasted that code. :(