Yahoo mail rejecting password

Question

Yahoo mail rejecting password

I just changed my password on my Yahoo mail account (not Yahoo Plus), and now cannot login via Mail.app anymore.

Prior to the password change, everything worked fine: IMAP setup and no issues.

I've checked and re-checked the password, including deleting all occurances in the Keychain in case there was any old data hanging around. I can log into the account using Yahoo's web interface, using the NEW password which I've literally copied and pasted both there and into Mail.app from the same source.

In Mail.app, I see

Pasting the password in doesn't do anything other than close the dialog and have it pop right back up again. Checking the "Remember this password in my keychain" also has no effect.

I've deleted the account in Mail several times, and generated the new account using the automatic settings in System Prefs->Mail, Contacts, and Calendars for a new Yahoo account.

incoming mail server is: imap.mail.yahoo.com

server name is: smtp.mail.yahoo.com

MacBook Pro, 10.7.2, Mail 5.1

I've found other similar threads, but nothing helpful. Anyone know what I'm missing or what I might be able to try?

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Nov 21, 2011 12:21 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 22, 2011 11:37 AM in response to Markie Castle

I should add that I can access the Yahoo account on my iPod Touch via the Mail app there, but this has never been an issue. I needed to update the password, but there was no glitch after that. It's only in Lion's Mail.app that I can't get the account to work.

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Answer 2

Nov 22, 2011 1:29 PM in response to Markie Castle

Just to close the loop on this: I was able to get it to work.

I created a brand new Yahoo account, and was able to do the setup in Mac Mail with no problem.

Since the only change had been my password, I investigated a bit and found that the length of the password was causing the problems.

I shortened the password to under 20 characters, and everthing started working again.

So, apparently, Mac Mail truncates strings in the interaction with Yahoo. The web interface worked fine, and the iPod Touch did too, just the Mac had the problems.

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Answer 3

Jan 19, 2012 6:02 AM in response to Markie Castle

Thanks Markie,

Like you I changed my Yahoo password (to a more secure password) and then couldn't aceess the account from Mail. It drove me nuts until I found your post and it clicked. My original password was 24 characters (new one was 32). I went back to a 24 character password and Mail is happy again. I'm not. Following other posts that postulate that the reason for the 'password being rejected' is corrupted settings, I deleted plists, acoounts, etc.

Apple needs to address this issue with Mail. It is easy to replicate. My experience with other interfaces like the web and my iPhone are the same as yours - they work.

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Answer 4

Jan 19, 2012 7:30 AM in response to Dave G Sr

Glad my experience helped someone else. Drove me nuts for a couple days.

Good luck!

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