HT204187: If Mail on your Mac keeps asking for your password

Learn about If Mail on your Mac keeps asking for your password
noelmac
Level 1 (4 points)
iPhone

Q: Mail keeps asking for my password

Mail keeps asking for my password, and it is entered in the box that it brings up, I just have to click okay, but I would prefer not to have to do this.

 

I have tried the keychain access route, but I don't know how to locate and then delete the email account password item.

 

I did use the disk utility, First Aid, Verify and Repair Disk, but that didn't work.

Mac Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.2), 16 gig RAM, 5 tb storage, 240 gb SS

Posted on Apr 1, 2015 7:05 AM

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noelmac

Q: Mail keeps asking for my password

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Apr 1, 2015 8:48 AM in response to noelmac
    Level 10 (207,926 points)
    Applications
    Apr 1, 2015 8:48 AM in response to noelmac

    If your password is accepted, and Mail connects to the account, but you're prompted for the password repeatedly, take each of the following steps that you haven't already tried. Note: these steps don't apply if the server rejects the password. That's a different problem.

    1. When prompted for the password, check the box marked

              Remember this password in my keychain.

    2. Check that the keychain is working.

    3. Check that the default keychain is unlocked.

  • by Bob Forsberg,

    Bob Forsberg Bob Forsberg Apr 3, 2015 9:18 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 3, 2015 9:18 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Mail continually asks for 1, 2 or all 3 of my email passwords/accounts that I have stored in Keychain. Sometimes after a single "OK" click it takes and mail operates. Sometimes after a few seconds, or after a few minutes the prompts appear again asking for the passwords....sometimes all of them, sometimes only one. Requests for a single password can repeat and fail 10-15 times in a row, before proceeding to work. Keychain FirstAid found no problems.


    iMac 2.93GHz i7 16GB  10.10.2  Mail 8.2


    mailfail.png

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Apr 3, 2015 12:42 PM in response to Bob Forsberg
    Level 9 (70,161 points)
    iTunes
    Apr 3, 2015 12:42 PM in response to Bob Forsberg

    Try deleting the passwords from Keychain Access. They should be reloaded the next time.

  • by noelmac,

    noelmac noelmac Apr 4, 2015 8:27 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Apr 4, 2015 8:27 AM in response to Eric Root

    Thank you so much.  I've gotten into Keychain, but can't seem to locate the password to delete for my email account.  My email address is :  “noela @*****.net", but when I go to Keychain, I find this “noel @*****.net" in quite a few places, but I can't locate where it is tied to my keychain.  Am I missing something, or would this email address not be indicated as a mail client in Keychain?

    Thank you again.

     

    <Email Edited by Host>

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Apr 4, 2015 11:15 AM in response to noelmac
    Level 9 (70,161 points)
    iTunes
    Apr 4, 2015 11:15 AM in response to noelmac

    You are welcome. Did you run Keychain First Aid as shown in Linc's second step. Since what you are finding isn't your e-mail account, delete all those entries.

  • by Bob Forsberg,

    Bob Forsberg Bob Forsberg Apr 5, 2015 9:52 AM in response to Eric Root
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 5, 2015 9:52 AM in response to Eric Root

    I've seen this suggested but don't have one of the passwords recorded on paper and have been reluctant to delete. Are the passwords lost requiring all email data to be reloaded manually or do they reappear and hopefully work? Thank you for your patience.

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Apr 5, 2015 10:41 AM in response to Bob Forsberg
    Level 9 (70,161 points)
    iTunes
    Apr 5, 2015 10:41 AM in response to Bob Forsberg

    You are welcome. The password would be lost. Can you access the web site and change your password there? Then you would know what the password is.