Mail: SMTP not working on MacBook Air, same settings work on iPhone

Make sure that, in Mail account's SMTP section, you delete the SMTP configurations before adding them back. Simply revising them, may not get the desired results.

When you delete an email account in Mail, it doesn't delete the SMTP setting. It has to be done from the SMTP section.

Verify that the settings for Gmail and Comcast that you're using are correct. Check the spellings and punctuation carefully. I've seen examples where commas were used instead of periods and STMP used instead of SMTP.

Comcast: http://customer.comcast.com/help-and-support/internet/email-client-programs-with -xfinity-email/

Remember, when trying a new SMTP setting, make sure you delete the previous setting and then quit and restart the Mail application to assure that the previous settings are purged from memory.

Let me guess, you have .hotmail or .live? I haven't found a way for that to work either.

It's been said that they are IMAP now, but apparently some programs are still seeing them as POP(3). I too have Outlook on my Mac, but I haven't tried it. Mainly because I haven't been using my .hotmail email for a few years. Shame too because I had it since 1998.

KOT

My guess, like others below, is that they are NOT the same. Double, triple check your SMTP servers list config, and watch carefulyl whcih one you use when you send...

Grant

Sorry about the Gmail and Comcast, I think I confused your issue with that of another poster.

However, Mail is just one of many email clients, and they all have the same requirements for email configuration. You might try adding the account by using the System Preferences, Internet Accounts panel, if you were previously trying it within the Mail application.

There are others, but frankly, mail works better. So you need to consider two paths:

1. something is fouled in the config - maybe corrupted and you cant fix it. Delete accounts and re-make them, letting mail do as much automtically as possible. Thsi is not a huge deal.

2. You have some errors in the OS 10.9 bits tht support mail sending. A re-install of 10.9 *might* fix the problem. No experience with ho easy it is, since mine worked fine 3x.

Thunderbird is the mail system of firefox. I find ap[le mai far better

Grant

Scrappleandeggs, I'm experiencing the same issue today and just assumed that iMail was "doing it's thing" again. I will keep an eye on it and let you know if I see changes.

In dont know how to just re-install mail, but you could do a complete re-install.

Now, remember that Mail depends on lower-level UNIX bits in OSX, and Thunderbird may not.

So you cant quite draw the conclusion you did....

Did you trash your mail prefs and re-do the accounts? I forget.

If you didnt --> you should.

If you DID, that indicates some level of corruption of the install, and IMO, would warrant a do-over. what else might be lurking?

Remember, most of us have it working trouble free.

Grant

Hi!

I've exactly the same problem with SMTP (iPhone 5 (iOS 7.0.4) and MacBook Air (OS X 10.9.1)) in Mail! Receiving mails is no problem but sending is not possible and I get the same error message as scrappleandeggs.

I really tried everything mentioned above (except complete re-install). But nothing helped unfortunately.

Hope someone could help. It's really frustrating...

Thanks

Had the same problem and solved it by changing the outgoing port to 26 and then changing the outgoing server name per Apples help, "

It may also be called the SMTP server. For example, if your e-mail provider is example.com, the outgoing mail server is likely smtp.example.com.

Just add the smtp to your email provider name as shown.

He says he did this and more.

Also, there is no reason why the port number would be different for Mav than whatever - the port is a server-side parameter.

Not saying its not worth a try, btu if it IS wrong, it indicates a bigger problem. As in, "it changed on its own"

Grant