AOL mail not working on iPhone

Most of the problems are on the AOL end. If you have 2 factor authentication on your AOL account to need to generate an application-specific password to use with the iPhone's built in email app. If you don't have 2 factor authentication you probably should, but that aside, you need to go to your AOL security settings and allow a non-AOL client to access mail. You need to do this only once. I can't give you the details because I gave up AOL many years ago, but other posts in this thread discuss how to do it.

The general solution that always works is to use the AOL mail app. That also has the benefit of supporting Push mail that is delivered immediately, rather than on a schedule.

When the Verizon store downloaded the AOL icon on my phone mail is coming and going. BUT the icon "mail" that comes with phone is the problem. It works then decides to take a vacation for several hours or even a day. Then miraculously comes back. Yesterday all day gone and today fine. Do I have no clue and I suggest going to the Apple store in person( which eventually I will do) and let one of their tech gurus figure it out

Carol

Sent from my iPhone

Thanks for the info ... I did go to the Apple store today and found out that

I had inadvertently turned on 2 factor authentication on my AOL settings and had to disable it (on a PC) in order for me to sign into my AOL account through my preinstalled iPhone “mail app “ as opposed to downloading and using an AOL app to retrieve my email.

I had no idea that such a small thing could have given me such a headache all this time!! I hope this info is helpful to everyone who was having similar problems!

Gina

Thanks for the info ... I did go to the Apple store today and found out that

I had inadvertently turned on 2 factor authentication on my AOL settings and had to disable it (on a PC) in order for me to sign into my AOL account through my preinstalled iPhone “mail app “ as opposed to downloading and using an AOL app to retrieve my email.

I had no idea that such a small thing could have given me such a headache all this time!! I hope this info is helpful to everyone who was having similar problems!

Gina

Thanks for the info ... I did go to the Apple store today and found out that

I had inadvertently turned on 2 factor authentication on my AOL settings and had to disable it (on a PC) in order for me to sign into my AOL account through my preinstalled iPhone “mail app “ as opposed to downloading and using an AOL app to retrieve my email.

I had no idea that such a small thing could have given me such a headache all this time!! I hope this info is helpful to everyone who was having similar problems!

Gina

Just so your aware AOL mail may not be secure on your device if you do not set up the advanced setting via your phone. If you see a lock when sending an email in the right corner from your phone and tap it and it does not lock your emails are not secure. Also FYI AOL has been putting "email accounts" when viewed on PC that the user did not create. When you go to send mail from PC click the sender and make sure you recognize all email accounts with AOL. shady they are trust me

Also you need two factor on trust me or your account is not secure. Aol does not provide secure servers I called trust me. It says secure when you first log into PC then wait it will say unsecure after a few min. You may be able to "pay" for a secure login

I was forced Over to Aol from Verizon two years ago. Everything was fine. Now I have an email account attached to mine I never created and also found out from AOL the aol.mail in not a secure server. So they have NO idea how this other email was attached. I got five different answers and they refuse to take it off. This started in June. So please turn two factor on. And also when using the "code" for Iphone you now can not encrypt aol mail. So be aware that from what AOL told me anywhere you log in is not secure. Also I was told I had hackers and viruses lol and I have security on my pc and they wanted remote access after I paid them 199.00 with a credit card. And YES it was the legit AOL number. She called me 8 times that day. Never let them get on your PC. I was in schock a company tried the scam method on me. I have reported that to the appropriate parties. Just be safe they are sketchy.

Hi, Gina; I'm glad you found a solution. If you have 2 Factor Authentication (2FA) on your account there are 2 ways to set up your AOL account on an iPhone (or any computer mail app). You found one, turn off 2 Factor Authentication. That has the disadvantage of making your AOL account more vulnerable to attack by a hacker. If you don't have 2 FA enabled you should put a very strong password on your AOL account. it should be at least 16 characters, preferably 20, and it should be one that someone who knows you couldn't guess.

The other option is to leave 2 FA enabled, log in to AOL, go to Security settings, and generate an "application specific password" that you use with the iPhone Mail app instead of your regular AOL password.

No, sorry to tell you, you were scammed out of $199, AND you gave a criminal access to the data on your computer. And NO, it was not a legit AOL number. You fell for a very common scam that criminal hackers use to steal identities and data (many people fall for it), and they probably still have access to your computer. So you really need to wipe it clean and set it up as if it was new, and don't restore any backups that you may have made after you paid the $199. Also, cancel the credit card that you used, file a fraud report for the $199 (you may get it back) as well as any other credit cards you had saved on your computer. Also change all of the passwords that you may have used with the computer, because the crooks now know them and can access your bank accounts and any other accounts you may have accessed from your computer. You may want to go to a computer repair service if you are not comfortable doing all of this. A reputable one, like Geek Squad or equivalent.

One simple thing you should do right now is go to https://malwarebytes.com and download and install malwarebytes, then run it. It will find any malware that was installed by the criminal hackers. The Home free version is all you need.

If you set up AOL mail correctly it is secure. But that isn't your biggest problem at the moment.

Hi Chirovette,

i called aol and finally go through to someone knowledgeable... for some reason the incoming server on my phone spontaneously changed to prefix smtp. I did not realize this. When I deleted and recreated the aol account by clicking the aol choice in the list, the incoming server again defaults to “smtp” and gives you no mail box set up - a blank environment. Instead, you need to choose “other “ from this list and manually type the correct prefix of “imap”for the incoming and “smtp” for the outgoing server. Now everything works perfectly for me... until in the future it spontaneously looses its settings again. But at least now I know the fix or workaround! Hopefully this will work for you - Good luck!

I had this problem pop up suddenly and in my searching for an answer, I noticed when I went into account security on aol.com, under email addresses, a work email account I had been forwarding from gmail to my aol account had a red exclamation point by it. I clicked on it and it said it needed to verify that account. I followed those steps and voila, my aol mail started working again on my iphone. I would suggest checking that if you are forwarding any other emails to your aol account.

I am having the SAME issue! It’s making me insane right now. I was thinking also that it might be an AOL problem but when I look at my daughters phone, which is exactly same as mine it’s all fine.

How is it possible that 12 hours ago it all worked fine and then WHAM! it’s all messed up! It makes no sense. I changed nothing! I’m so frustrated. I will continue to read through it all to see if you were ever able to resolve it. I don’t like the AOL app at all!! I want it back from the standard Mail.

If you have 2 factor authentication on your AOL account you need to generate an application-specific password for AOL mail using the Apple mail app.

If you do not have 2 factor authentication on your AOL account you must go to AOL security settings and authorize a 3rd party email app.

Ok, I cannot find ANYWHERE in any settings on my phone where it says anything about 2 Factor Authentication. I am so frustrated right now. I just need someone to explain to me in layman’s terms how to fix this? I use my email on my phone for everything...