darkmoebius
Level 1 (1 points)

Q: Mail cannot log into accounts after El Capitan

Mail repeatedly popup asks for both my email account passwords. When i enter them, it says "Unable to verify account name or password"

I have also re-entered the passwords in Mail>Accounts. Same results

 

But, I can sign into my Network Solutions webhost mail website with both the account names and passwords. Both also work perfectly on my iPhone Mail

So, the problem is clearly with Mail and the updates in El Capitan, since it worked fine for years prior to the update today

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11), 15" Late 2011, 2.3GHz i7, 8GB RAM

Posted on Sep 30, 2015 8:09 PM

by darkmoebius,Solvedanswer
darkmoebius darkmoebius
Level 1 (1 points)
A:

Ok, this is going to sound crazy....But, considering all the email problems popping up from El Capitan, maybe  not

 

But, for at least 3 years all my POP settings have been unchanged - port 995, use SSL. This was due to Network Solutions have some server problems years ago and their tech support suggesting that setting. I just never changed it back

 

Anyway, their mail setup webpage says:

  • Username = user@yourdomain.com
  • Password = the password you set up when you configured your mail box
  • Incoming Mail Server = mail.yourdomain.com
  • Outgoing Mail Server = smtp.yourdomain.com
    • Outgoing Server Requires Authentication (typically found in advanced options or settings)
    • Do NOT check "Log on Using Secure Password Authentication"
    • Use the same Username and Password as Incoming or select "Use Same Settings as Incoming"
  • Outgoing Server Port = 2525 or 587
    • This is subject to change based on the individual preferences of your ISP
Note - Make sure you are not choosing and SSL type, this option should be turned off, or "None" should be selected.

 

But, Mail will not save the changes appropriately. I enter port 587, uncheck SSL, and "password" authentification, and as soon as i save it, it would change to port 110 APOP authentification. Then, smtp does not work. Back and forth it has gone for hours.  Closing Mail, re-opening, rebooting, anything in the hope that settings stick.

 

Suddenly, 5 minutes ago, I open Preferences and it is back to port 995, SSL checked, Authenticated POP (APOP), the original settings and.......It works!

I'm guessing it reverted back to those settings because I checked "Automatically detect and maintain settings". i had unchecked that earlier today trying to get settings to stick.

 

Bottom line - the El Capitan update screws with Account Settings - check them. If it won't accept changes, uncheck "Automatically detect and maintain settings" under Accounts>Advanced. See if it eventually works. Then, try re-checking that

 

Unfortunately, I cannot say for fact what got my mail working again. I've changes way to many things in frustration to know

Posted on Oct 1, 2015 5:49 PM

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darkmoebius

Q: Mail cannot log into accounts after El Capitan

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  • by dorusava,

    dorusava dorusava Oct 1, 2015 7:32 AM in response to Onion6270
    Level 1 (30 points)
    Oct 1, 2015 7:32 AM in response to Onion6270

    Try to delete MailData folder from username//Library/Mail/V3.

    Mail Application will import again the mailboxes from all your accounts.

    I hope this helps.

  • by darkmoebius,

    darkmoebius darkmoebius Oct 1, 2015 9:26 AM in response to Hugo Stiglitz
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Oct 1, 2015 9:26 AM in response to Hugo Stiglitz

    Thank you for reminding me to do a Mailbox>Rebuild, that at least got all the emails stored in those accounts(Inbox & Sent) to be visible

    But, I still cannot send email from Mac Mail. Receiving mail seems to work, though

  • by darkmoebius,

    darkmoebius darkmoebius Oct 1, 2015 9:39 AM in response to A hollow Voice says
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Oct 1, 2015 9:39 AM in response to A hollow Voice says

    I just tried the deleting expired/revoked certificates in Keychain Access. Along with anything associated with mail.my-email-domain.com

    Didn't work

  • by bailefire,

    bailefire bailefire Oct 1, 2015 9:43 AM in response to A hollow Voice says
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 1, 2015 9:43 AM in response to A hollow Voice says

    I Tried this, I still cannot access my exchange email account.  Same issue: cannot verify.

  • by darkmoebius,

    darkmoebius darkmoebius Oct 1, 2015 1:16 PM in response to darkmoebius
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Oct 1, 2015 1:16 PM in response to darkmoebius

    Now, I can't send emails from my iPhone!!!!

    I get an invalid username or password error

     

    I wonder if this is related to deleting certificates and keys in Keychain Access on MB Pro?

    The two are set to synch

  • by bren_nan,

    bren_nan bren_nan Oct 1, 2015 1:20 PM in response to darkmoebius
    Level 1 (117 points)
    Oct 1, 2015 1:20 PM in response to darkmoebius

    What you did on your MB Pro should not affect your iPhone in any way, Even if you have the two set to sync they would not be syncing account information.

     

    Focusing on the Mac for the time being, when you go to the menu bar and choose Window > Connection Doctor, do you get all green dot indicators for your accounts? If not, what is the error message that is presented to the right of the dot indicator? This may help in narrowing down the issue.

  • by darkmoebius,

    darkmoebius darkmoebius Oct 1, 2015 2:11 PM in response to bren_nan
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Oct 1, 2015 2:11 PM in response to bren_nan

    It says "Trying to log into the SMTP account failed. Verify that the username and password are correct" for both accounts

  • by bren_nan,Helpful

    bren_nan bren_nan Oct 1, 2015 2:18 PM in response to darkmoebius
    Level 1 (117 points)
    Oct 1, 2015 2:18 PM in response to darkmoebius

    OK, and you stated that you confirmed that your password is correct by logging into your email online with the same email and password, correct?

     

    That error message that you're receiving is directly related to the login credentials for that specific email account (Email/Password) -- more specifically it's referring to SMTP, which is the outgoing server (IMAP or POP would be the incoming server).

     

    Go ahead and go into your Mail application > Click Mail in the top left menu bar > Choose Preferences > Choose Accounts > Choose the email account you're experiencing issues with (if you have more than one listed).

     

    Once you're within the email account preferences make sure you're under the "Account Information" tab. Delete the password that appears about halfway down and re-enter it, making certain it's the same password you used successfully to login to your email web portal. Then in the "Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP)" section, choose "Edit SMTP server list". Choose the server name in the list that you use as your outgoing email server. Under the "Advanced" tab, be certain that your email and password are listed. Once again, delete what's in the password field and re-enter the password you know to be correct. Than click "OK", click the red circle to close out of the "Accounts" window. Choose to Save/Apply changes when prompted.

     

    Then go back to Window (in the menu bar) > Connection Doctor and have a look and see if you get all green indicator dots now.

     

    Good luck!

  • by darkmoebius,

    darkmoebius darkmoebius Oct 1, 2015 2:41 PM in response to bren_nan
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Oct 1, 2015 2:41 PM in response to bren_nan

    Hi, thanks for the step-by-step instructions.

    I followed your directions and still am getting the error "Trying to log into the SMTP account failed. Verify that the username and password are correct" for both accounts in Connection Doctor and invalid password or username when sending an email

  • by bren_nan,

    bren_nan bren_nan Oct 1, 2015 2:51 PM in response to darkmoebius
    Level 1 (117 points)
    Oct 1, 2015 2:51 PM in response to darkmoebius

    OK, so your issue is definitely related to your email password then.

     

    Sorry if you already mentioned this, but is the email account you are using POP or IMAP? If it's IMAP, I'd recommend backing up (exporting) the mailboxes that currently have email on your Mac just out of precaution, and then delete and re-add the email account(s) from within the Mail Preferences > Accounts section and have it pull in the necessary server info again. If the error appears again at that point in time during setup then there's not much other explanation other than the fact that your login information has to be incorrect.

     

    Import or Export Mailboxes

  • by David L. Gerhardt,

    David L. Gerhardt David L. Gerhardt Oct 1, 2015 3:04 PM in response to darkmoebius
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Oct 1, 2015 3:04 PM in response to darkmoebius

    I seem to have a similar, but not quite as extensive problem.  On my MacBook Pro, and my wife's Mac Mini, all of our POP accounts appear to work fine... but my APPLE iCloud email has somehow lost the name of the "Outgoing Mail Server".  It only has my POP Outgoing servers listed.  Can someone PROVIDE the name of the iCloud (IMAP) Outgoing Server?  THANKS!

    (ps: the Connection Doctor indicates solid green for ALL accounts)

  • by darkmoebius,

    darkmoebius darkmoebius Oct 1, 2015 3:08 PM in response to bren_nan
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Oct 1, 2015 3:08 PM in response to bren_nan

    Both my accounts are POP.

    The username and password are correct because I can log into Network Solution's webmail portal for those accounts using those usernames/passwords

     

    Will exporting the mailboxes and deleting/re-adding accounts with POP?

  • by bren_nan,

    bren_nan bren_nan Oct 1, 2015 3:11 PM in response to David L. Gerhardt
    Level 1 (117 points)
    Oct 1, 2015 3:11 PM in response to David L. Gerhardt

    David L. Gerhardt: Linked below is the article that provides the server information for iCloud email accounts.

     

    IMAP (Incoming) Server Info:

    • Server name: imap.mail.me.com
    • SSL Required: Yes
      If you see an error message when using SSL, try using TLS instead.
    • Port: 993
    • Username: This is usually the name part of your iCloud email address (for example, emilyparker, not emilyparker@icloud.com). If your email client can't connect to iCloud using just the name part of your iCloud email address, try using the full address.
    • Password: Your iCloud password

     

    SMTP (Outgoing) Server Info:

    • Server name: smtp.mail.me.com
    • SSL Required: Yes
      If you see an error message when using SSL, try using TLS or STARTTLS instead.
    • Port: 587
    • SMTP Authentication Required: Yes
    • Username: Your full iCloud email address (for example, emilyparker@icloud.com, not emilyparker)
    • Password: Your iCloud password

     

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202304

     

    Hope this helps!

  • by bren_nan,

    bren_nan bren_nan Oct 1, 2015 3:18 PM in response to darkmoebius
    Level 1 (117 points)
    Oct 1, 2015 3:18 PM in response to darkmoebius

    As long as you export the mailboxes, delete the account, and then re-add the account you should be fine. POP will pull in some email (and depending on your settings, maybe all of your email) when you re-add the account. Exporting the mailboxes is just a precaution in case you delete the account and upon re-adding the emails don't come back you can then import those exported mailboxes back into the Mail app.

     

    So, yes, you should be OK to delete and re-add the account as long as you export mailboxes with email in them first.

  • by bren_nan,

    bren_nan bren_nan Oct 1, 2015 3:25 PM in response to David L. Gerhardt
    Level 1 (117 points)
    Oct 1, 2015 3:25 PM in response to David L. Gerhardt

    On second thought, David L. Gerhardt, you may be better off quitting the Mail app, going to System Preferences > iCloud and unchecking the Mail option for iCloud and then rechecking it. This will basically remove (make inactive) the iCloud email on your Mac and automatically obtain the correct server settings for your account and add the account back to the Mail app.

     

    This may be an easier method, as opposed to entering in the server settings I provided a few moments ago.

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