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mac mail and bt mail account

History: I have been a customer of BT at **** using mail to send and receive mail for 10yrs+. Joined bt infinity jan 2016 all ok using mac mal account with BT (os10.11.6). Then beginning of August outward mail could not be sent hung up in out box for 24hrs.


Consulted bt help, I was told they did not use third party software (gmail account successfully running with third party mac mail on my macbook pro) and this is an apple problem and that I need to consult their recommended software engineer to sort it out.


Posed this question to bt and still waiting for answer "can you answer why i have had the service for the past 10 years using an account in mac mail and mal.wolf@btinternet but now I cannot even send emails from mac mail?"


My question to the community is how many mac users are there in similar frustrating position as I am?


And to Apple once and for all is it a problem with mac mail as bt are saying and are there a solution/s?


I am tending to feel like a tennis ball in the middle of two players Please help!


<Personal Information Edited by Host>

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), null

Posted on Aug 20, 2016 4:54 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 20, 2016 5:21 AM

Well as long as all the server settings are correct then Apple Mail will work with any email account. It is just an email client like MS Outlook or Thunderbird. I use Apple Mail with various providers including Virgin Media without issue. It would be worth checking your account settings just in case BT have tweaked then since you last added them.


Mail > Preferences > Accounts > your BT account


It shouldn't matter that you are now using BT Infinity as that is just the name of the router they provide.


http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/44917/~/what-are-the-settings-for -outgoing-and-incoming-bt-email-servers%…


IMAP

Incoming Mail Server: mail.btinternet.com

Port: 993 (this should be automatically populated if you tick the SSL Encryption)

SSL Encryption: Enabled (but not STARTTLS)

Username: your email address including the @btinternet.com or @btopenworld.com part

Password: your btinternet password

Root folder/path:

Folder separator: . (full stop)

Please do NOT enable "secure password authentication" (SPA). It's not needed when you use SSL encryption and won't work.

If your IMAP client supports it, we recommend you also set up the following folders:

  • Trash
  • Sent Items
  • Drafts


SMTP

Outgoing Mail Server: mail.btinternet.com

Port: 465 (this may not be automatically populated on selection of SSL, so you'll need to check this)

SSL Encryption: Enabled (but not STARTTLS)

Authentication: PLAIN

Username: your email address including the @btinternet.com or @btopenworld.com part

Password: your btinternet password

12 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 20, 2016 5:21 AM in response to bigbad

Well as long as all the server settings are correct then Apple Mail will work with any email account. It is just an email client like MS Outlook or Thunderbird. I use Apple Mail with various providers including Virgin Media without issue. It would be worth checking your account settings just in case BT have tweaked then since you last added them.


Mail > Preferences > Accounts > your BT account


It shouldn't matter that you are now using BT Infinity as that is just the name of the router they provide.


http://bt.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/44917/~/what-are-the-settings-for -outgoing-and-incoming-bt-email-servers%…


IMAP

Incoming Mail Server: mail.btinternet.com

Port: 993 (this should be automatically populated if you tick the SSL Encryption)

SSL Encryption: Enabled (but not STARTTLS)

Username: your email address including the @btinternet.com or @btopenworld.com part

Password: your btinternet password

Root folder/path:

Folder separator: . (full stop)

Please do NOT enable "secure password authentication" (SPA). It's not needed when you use SSL encryption and won't work.

If your IMAP client supports it, we recommend you also set up the following folders:

  • Trash
  • Sent Items
  • Drafts


SMTP

Outgoing Mail Server: mail.btinternet.com

Port: 465 (this may not be automatically populated on selection of SSL, so you'll need to check this)

SSL Encryption: Enabled (but not STARTTLS)

Authentication: PLAIN

Username: your email address including the @btinternet.com or @btopenworld.com part

Password: your btinternet password

Aug 23, 2016 11:49 AM in response to bigbad

Is this as far as you are getting?

User uploaded file


Normally when adding an account you enter the basic info first:

User uploaded file

after clicking Sign In, Mail will try and retrieve the rest of the data automatically (although for me this fails for often then not), then if it does fail in El Cap it will automatically change to manual configuration...

User uploaded file

and here you need to manually enter your username, incoming/outgoing server.

Aug 25, 2016 9:39 AM in response to think.different

Hi Think.differently.....sorry late reply, followed last information you suppied-account set up but incoming mail server greyed out


and Iget "password needed" when activating...this shown in alert box in mail and box near notifications


User uploaded file


Can you see any wrong settings.....settings for mail box behaviours and advanced below



User uploaded file



User uploaded file




Still unable to use this account in mac mail


Any help? bighead

Aug 26, 2016 2:33 AM in response to think.different

Hi Please see

A) Account information setting for Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) reads Btinternet (offline) what does the offline mean tried but cannot change


B) advanced settings Authentication box--Password ....is this bt password.....see below I hope this answers your last question to me


I tested email by sending through btaccount a email to myself yesterday. It was still in my out box today and screen shot show reply I received.....


User uploaded file


and then....


User uploaded file


Please see http://www.macissues.com/2015/07/06/fix-mail-not-sending-or-receiving-messages-a fter-updating-os-x/


would this instruction help to solve password problems I do not have the software skills to use this and I do not wish to upset my mac mail setup. Would like you and communities thoughts


...Thanks bigbad

Aug 23, 2016 3:42 AM in response to think.different

Hi think.different.....Thanks for info. When I try to make New account in mail for bt I insert correct ID mal.wol@btinternet and log in password. mail tries to open account but I receive "Unable to verify account name and password" red alert message,under box for password.


Any way around this? Bt have suggested using their recommended software engineer.


Because of this action unable to use you advice. Is this a problem with mail or any blocked access by bt?

Aug 26, 2016 2:36 AM in response to bigbad

Hello bigbad.


For what it's worth I have had problems with Mac Mail for months. My Web host says that Mac mail seems to have a bug which changes the port numbers sporadically. It seems that the password disappears similarly (though not at the same time) and has to be re-entered. After much discussion I finally agreed to download Mozilla Thunderbird and my web host talked me through the installation.


Result; all my problems have disappeared.


So instead of wrestling with Mac Mail, try Thunderbird. I cannot believe that BT cannot link with this. It might also be worth reviewing your email supplier for BT are far more expensive than most and the service (from an earlier experience) is often poor,

Sep 14, 2016 3:37 AM in response to bigbad

I have just been getting the same problem in the last week with the password not being accepted. I have noticed that the password request is coming up only in relation to contacts and calendar synching. I have therefore deleted the contacts and calendar links on my mac, but kept the BT Yahoo mail account and the problem has stopped and I can use my mail for both sending and receiving without password prompts. It does mean I have had to sacrifice the calendar and contacts synching but I don't use mine for that anyway so it's no big deal. I hope this helps.

Dec 18, 2017 9:55 AM in response to bigbad

I have had exactly this problem over the last few weeks and it has also occurred with a friends wife.


I was successfuly using iPad, iPhone and MacBook Pro with BT internet and have for years, when all three devices started showing username or password is incorrect - ok?


since I had not changed the password I knew this was a system error.


calling bt more than once a lady in bt suppo spent an hour on the phone and eventually got it working again.


this lasted two days.


then it started again with username or password is incorrect- ok?


this time I could not get it corrected and reset all my important accounts to use my Apple Mac email address.


several days later I had a brainwave.


i used the Yahoo! Preset on the iPhone and iMac (never used before ever - always told to use “other”) and it worked!


Still can’t get it right on the MacBook Pro which is why I am looking here.

mac mail and bt mail account

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