Mac Mail keeps asking for password for Hotmail account

Question

Level 1

17 points

Mac Mail keeps asking for password for Hotmail account

Recently my Mac Mail has been continuously asking for my hotmail account password. When I enter it I get a message that it can not verify the user and password. The pop3 account has been changed to popmail.outlook.com on the Mac. Was working until about 2 weeks ago.

I have not been able to set it up as other, IMAP or Outlook Exchange. If you try to use "Other eMail", it still can not verify the password. It still works on the iphone 4, so I know the password is fine. I can access it in browser so account is fine too.

I Removed VPN and firewall but no luck. I deleted all old keychain passwords for "hotmail" and "live", just in case.

I don't want to lose all my old emails as they are in multiple work folders with other emails from other servers... Can not risk deleting and re-adding this account. I have years of important emails. I realise I could use time machine to recover messages but that is tedious and slow.

Anyone got Hotmail working under the latest Max OS X (el Cap) Mac Mail? What settings are you using please?

iPhone 4

Posted on May 31, 2016 10:38 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Laaray

Level 1

4 points

Dec 9, 2017 6:10 AM in response to neo-9

I had the same issue when mail app on my Mac kept on asking me the password I eventually found out it was because it did not support two steps identification that I have set up with my hotmail account, I just had to create an app password and it worked !

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Answer 2

Dec 16, 2017 11:27 AM in response to neo-9

Worked just fine. All the mail I hadn't received was on webmail and transferred when I set up the new account (actually same old account, same username, same password. Only difference, the new account worked)

Thank You!

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Answer 3

Jason L

Community Specialist

Jun 2, 2016 9:37 AM in response to Lexxiconn

Hello Lexxiconn,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities.

If I understand correctly, there's an issue with the Mail app on your Mac repeatedly asking for the password to your Hotmail email account. The article below describes a similar issue and provides general troubleshooting tips that should help you resolve the issue.

If Mail on your Mac keeps asking for your password - Apple Support

Ciao.

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Answer 4

Lexxiconn Author

Level 1

17 points

Jun 2, 2016 4:28 PM in response to Jason L

Hi Jason,

I tried all those things as explained in my original posting. But thanks.

i.e The password is fine, the password has been changed just in case (and new one is fine too) and the account is active. All other devices (and I have many that use this account) have and are using the same password. I have tried changing the servers POP and SMPT to the latest ones used in the OUTLOOK website recommendations (the ones I see when I access this hotmail email account through a browser). I have tried to set this account up as IMAP and as an exchange service (all of which I have used on other occasions effectively but now they all fail).

Something has changed on either the Mac side or the Hotmail Server side which has broken this long term connectivity - It is a tech/support issue not a user issue. I started this account in the late 1990s when I first started working in IT. This is why I don't want to lose the emails (25 years worth).

The underlying problem here is that email addresses are not permanent - I originally created a Hotmail account to have an email address that would move with me regardless of which internet supplier I was with (i.e. you lose their email addresses when you move to another supplier), but now MS wants to force me to close this email address and move to Outlook, but they have not provided a migration path for moving all my old emails to the new address or a mail redirection for those who still use the old account email. I am stuck on a legacy system. This is why I need this fixed.

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Answer 5

mlohisse

Level 1

9 points

Jun 3, 2016 12:54 AM in response to Lexxiconn

Hi

I have exactly the same problem for a week, hotmail doesn't work on my computer, but still works on my iPhone.

I tried in vain to find an issue on internet. Did you found a solution?

Thanks and best regards,

can't find any issue.

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Answer 6

chroot

Level 4

1,102 points

Jun 3, 2016 12:56 AM in response to Lexxiconn

Check the settings here: https://www.apple.com/support/mail-settings-lookup/

If those don't work, check directly through hotmail's website. The e-mail service provider controls the required settings and not the mail client.

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Answer 7

mlohisse

Level 1

9 points

Jun 3, 2016 1:09 AM in response to chroot

It only gives informations for the IMAP settings, and not the POP ones.

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Answer 8

mlohisse

Level 1

9 points

Jun 3, 2016 1:22 AM in response to Lexxiconn

Hi

I just fond the problem.

It comes from your Outlook account.

It changes automatically but you must go (mine is in french so I'm not sure of the transaltion) to Options > Accounts > POP and IMAP > Options POP : Let the devices use POP protocole.

Now it works on my computer

Best regards

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Answer 9

Jun 3, 2016 12:15 PM in response to mlohisse

This worked for me also. I signed in to my hotmail account on-line and followed your instructions. I then went back in to Mail on my Mac and it is now working. Thank you for your help

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Answer 10

Lexxiconn Author

Level 1

17 points

Jun 5, 2016 3:43 PM in response to chroot

Hi Chroot,

These are the settings I have finally got working...

Incoming Mail Server

Account Type: POP

Username: ***@hotmail.com

Server hostname: pop-mail.outlook.com

Server port: 995

Authentication: Password SSL/TLS: Yes

Outgoing Mail Server

Username: ***@hotmail.com

Server hostname: smtp-mail.outlook.com

Server port: 587

Authentication: Password SSL/TLS: Yes

I had tried them before but it was not until I had logged into my Hotmail Account in a browser and set a new password that these settings finally started working. Hope this helps others that are having the same issue. Thanks to all that replied 🙂.

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Answer 11

neo-9

Level 1

8 points

Jun 15, 2016 4:37 PM in response to Lexxiconn

Delete whatever you had added as the hotmail account in Settings->Internet Accounts by clicking the minus button when selecting it, then add a new account again, scroll down to 'Add Other Account' then select 'Mail Account' and if you type in your credentials it should work without needing any other settings to be entered manually.

Hope this helps!

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Answer 12

askmrmac

Level 1

104 points

Jun 15, 2016 5:36 PM in response to Lexxiconn

I had seen similar behavior on some ancient hotmail and outlook com accounts also.

What I figured:

Hotmail com and Outlook com just make you log into the web version of their service occasionally.

Maybe they don't like people using their free email service without occasionally seeing their web ads?

This happened to both a hotmail and a outlook account that were semi dormant, and were only used via Mac Mail, not logged into via web browser in months.

All my correct setting resulted in errors similar to your complaint.

Then I logged into the web version, it accepted my known good credentials, I restarted Mac Mail, and voila, it suddenly started working again.

I suspect their is some sort of cookie, or MS just sneakily forces you to visit the web version of their email service occasionally in exchange for active free web mail service via an email client app.

Go figure. So I just make sure I log into the web browser version of those email accounts about once per month...

But I could be wrong, and just paranoid about MS's behavior.

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Answer 13

Lexxiconn Author

Level 1

17 points

Jun 16, 2016 4:03 PM in response to neo-9

Please be careful because if you delete and re-add the account - all mail for that account is also deleted. That's what I meant when I said I did not want to lose 25 years worth of emails. You can back them up by manually copy / pasting folders (I think) but it would be a long and tedious way to do this.

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Answer 14

Hsj47

Level 1

4 points

Jul 17, 2016 9:35 PM in response to mlohisse

Thank-you - that worked and stacks of emails came bubbling up from the great grey yonder - hadn't been able to deliver since the new Outlook was created. I am grateful to have my old arrangements back.

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Answer 15

Aug 31, 2016 6:16 AM in response to Lexxiconn

Hello! i've been having the exact same problem. I'm glad I found this thread because it reassured me that other people have had the same problem and were able to fix it, however I've had no such luck.

-I've checked the POP settings for my mail account to make sure they are correct, they are
-I logged in to outlook online to check if the "Let the devices use POP protocole" option was activated, it is
-I changed my password to see if that worked, as it has for other people, it didn't
-I've restarted both my mail and my mac several times with no luck, I keep getting the "can't verify account" error

The thing is my hotmail account was working fine on Mail with El Capitan up until yesterday and it suddenly stopped working out of the blue, it works fine on my Iphone, and just I can't figure out what the problem is

This is the most useful page I've found so far because the problem is the most similar to mine, but nothing seems to work, does anyone have any other suggestion for me to try??

Thank you!

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