Mail keeps losing passwords; what can I do to fix this problem?

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Mail keeps losing passwords; what can I do to fix this problem?

Everytime I open Mail, within a few minutes, the program forgets the passwords I have typed into the Preferences for each account. It then starts prompting me to type those passwords in again for each account I have configured. If I open preferences, each of the password fields is blank. Could someone please tell me what is wrong with Mail and causing it to lose those passwords each time the program is run.

Thanks, Steve

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion, 27 inch iMac, 16 GB, 2 TB, 10.8

Posted on Aug 11, 2012 10:09 AM

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Answer 1

Aug 11, 2012 12:53 PM in response to Steve-n-NJ

Make sure you have a good backup, before proceeding with the following.
Don't confirm the passwords in the fields in Mail.app. Rather, look in Keychain Access for the passwords, and see if what's listed there is correct. You can see the cleartext passwords using Keychain Access.
Look for a network error, or a server connectivity issue. I've seen this exact password-prompting behavior with Mail.app with a marginal WiFi coverage. If you're on a WiFi, then try a hard-wired connection as a test.
If the previous steps fail to resolve this, then open up Keychain Access, and run a keychain repair pass, and then find and remove any of the password entries related to your mail accounts, then re-enter the passwords over in Mail.app.

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Answer 2

Dec 3, 2012 9:14 AM in response to Steve-n-NJ

I, too, have this annoying problem.

I have run repairs on my Keychain until my fingers ache. Also, this happens whether I'm hardwired or via WiFi. I had a mid-2011 Macbook Pro and now I have a Macbook Retina and same problem occurs. All updates are applied.

Furthermore, this happens to different accounts being served by the same server. I don't believe it is a network error or anything external....

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