Mac Mail App Not Accepting Gmail Password

Hello, is it POP or IMAP?

Open Keychain Access in Utilities, use Keychain First Aid under the Keychain Menu item, then either check the Password under that item, change it, or delete it and start over.

There'll be at least 2 for gmail.

The Password rejection can confuse people since it's a catch all meaning...

This Password, Username, Authentication method... is not recognized on this Port to this Server, or a server end problem.

If using a browser to login via WebMail works it's not Name or Password, but one of the other ones.

The receiving email ports are:

IMAP is port 143

IMAP-SSL is port 993

POP is port 110

POP-SSL is port 995

Outgoing ports are...

SMTP and SMTP-SSL is on ports 25, 587 and 465. Port 587 has to be SSL, and port 465 is enforced TLS-wrapped and is generally used by Outlook users.

It's not you. You haven't made any mistakes. It is the built in mail program. It is, in my opinion, one of the worst email programs ever. Some have no trouble with mail app and others, many others, have all kinds of problems. Mainly it seems "Can't send" or "Can't receive" but there are a host of other problems post on these forums everyday.

All gamil accounts are imap. Even if you access them by the pop protocol. The built in mail app sets all gmail accounts up as imap anyway.

If you cannot find the menu item, try alt+CMD+a keys

Nice work, thanks for the report! 🙂

Completely understand! 🙂

Here are the details to fix the dual password issue:

I also found that the problem with many gmail installations in Apple Mail (and other mail clients) is related to the aforementioned Google two step verification process. If you remember getting text codes on your mobile device(s) asking you to verify your email account, this is a possibility for you. You may have to log onto GMail from your browser, got to the "gear" icon->settings->Change account settings->Change password recovery options, then put in your password again at the resulting verification window, and turn off secondary verification via text in the ensuing windows. This prevents the mail client from failing to verify via a password you may not even have access to in order to go online. Once you have done this and saved it, you should be able to send and receive mail and no longer be prompted for your password unsuccessfully over and over. MAke sure, of course, that all your regular email settings are correct again (like FULL email address in user name fields), now that you may have changed lots of things in the vain attempt to overcome this rather obscure problem!

Steve Bilzi

Sr. Tech

Bilzi Mac Services

Wilmington, NC

P.S., it's a Google issue, not an Apple issue. It seems Apple and Apple Mail is getting a bit of a bad rap here for being asked to do the impossible based on what it has been given to work with.

Just another day in paradise!

Steve Bilzi

I do not have two stage signon/verification turned on in Google and I am having the same problem (using a known-good password for my gmail and it is still not syncing with Mac Mail).

I recently deleted my Keychain "login" folder per a Genius's advice. Could that be the problem? If so, suggestions? If not...suggestions?

Often when there are problems with Mail and passwords, it can be solved by zapping the PRAM:

Restart the computer and immediately hold down the option-command-p-r keys. Continue holding down the keys until you hear the chimes 3 times. It wouldn't hurt to do a permissions repair with DiscUtility, too.

That usually fixes the problem (as long as you are using the correct password).

Agreed. This 2-step process solved it. What a pain. Lost an hour of work. Thanks for the tips. This thread solved my problem.

PRAM zapped, recovery options down to minimum [just the security question], still no luck trying to log in.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.