Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Hierdie gesprek is in die argief. Vra asseblief 'n nuwe vraag as jy hulp nodig het.

Authentications failure accessing Gmail

  • 4 antwoorde
  • 1 het hierdie probleem
  • 5 views
  • Laaste antwoord deur hobson42

more options

I am moving from windows to Ubuntu, and I have just copied my thunderbird files over. Now I am getting authentication error when connecting to server imap.googlemail.com. I have tried everything I can think of, (24 hours of emails await me) including deleting and recreating the account (that simply told me the receiving imap server that I had just deleted, already existed).

This is the beginning of the troubleshooting information:

 Application Basics
   Name: Thunderbird
   Version: 60.6.1
   Build ID: 20190325143859
   User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:60.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/60.6.1
   OS: Linux 4.15.0-47-generic
   Multiprocess Windows: 0/0 (Disabled)
   Web Content Processes:
   Stylo: content = true (enabled by default), chrome = true (enabled by default)
   Enterprise Policies:
   Google Location Service Key: Missing
   Google SafeBrowsing Key: Missing
   Mozilla Location Service Key: Missing
   Safe Mode: false
 Mail and News Accounts
   account1:
     INCOMING: account1, , (imap) imap.googlemail.com:993, SSL, OAuth2
     OUTGOING: , smtp.googlemail.com:465, SSL, OAuth2, true
     OUTGOING: , smtp.googlemail.com:465, SSL, OAuth2, false
     OUTGOING: , smtp.googlemail.com:465, SSL, OAuth2, false
   account2:
     INCOMING: account2, , (none) Local Folders, plain, passwordCleartext
 Crash Reports for the Last 3 Days
 All Crash Reports
 Extensions
     Name
     Version
     Enabled
     ID
       Lightning
       6.2.6.1
       true
       {e2fda1a4-762b-4020-b5ad-a41df1933103}
       Messaging Menu and Unity Launcher integration
       1.4
       true
       [email protected]
 Security Software
   Type: Name
     Antivirus:
     Antispyware:
     Firewall:
I am moving from windows to Ubuntu, and I have just copied my thunderbird files over. Now I am getting authentication error when connecting to server imap.googlemail.com. I have tried everything I can think of, (24 hours of emails await me) including deleting and recreating the account (that simply told me the receiving imap server that I had just deleted, already existed). This is the beginning of the troubleshooting information: Application Basics Name: Thunderbird Version: 60.6.1 Build ID: 20190325143859 User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:60.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/60.6.1 OS: Linux 4.15.0-47-generic Multiprocess Windows: 0/0 (Disabled) Web Content Processes: Stylo: content = true (enabled by default), chrome = true (enabled by default) Enterprise Policies: Google Location Service Key: Missing Google SafeBrowsing Key: Missing Mozilla Location Service Key: Missing Safe Mode: false Mail and News Accounts account1: INCOMING: account1, , (imap) imap.googlemail.com:993, SSL, OAuth2 OUTGOING: , smtp.googlemail.com:465, SSL, OAuth2, true OUTGOING: , smtp.googlemail.com:465, SSL, OAuth2, false OUTGOING: , smtp.googlemail.com:465, SSL, OAuth2, false account2: INCOMING: account2, , (none) Local Folders, plain, passwordCleartext Crash Reports for the Last 3 Days All Crash Reports Extensions Name Version Enabled ID Lightning 6.2.6.1 true {e2fda1a4-762b-4020-b5ad-a41df1933103} Messaging Menu and Unity Launcher integration 1.4 true [email protected] Security Software Type: Name Antivirus: Antispyware: Firewall:

Gekose oplossing

Thanks both for your input. Wish I had known about pkcs11.txt earlier.

I actually removed Thunderbird, deleted the .thunderbird file and then re-installed, set up the access. Then, to bring my address book and filters over over, I closed TB, copied over abook.mab (personal address book) and *.default/ImapMail/imap.gmail.com/msgFilterRules.dat. Then I re-started TB, and had to edit each filter to reselect the target folder, and wait while 3 years of mail came down.

Once complete, it all appears to work.

Thanks again. Ian

Lees dié antwoord in konteks 👍 0

All Replies (4)

more options

Additional information: Google has been set to allow less secure apps access. Google reports Thunderbird IS permitted to access my account Two factor authentication is OFF. It has been many hours since I changed my password. The new password works to let me access gmail and my account on-line. The new password is stored in my password manager, so it is not miss-typed.

more options

When you copy a TB profile from Windows to Linux or OS X (or vice versa), the stored passwords aren't recognized unless you delete the pkcs11.txt file from the profile folder.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1250492

more options

But you are using Authentication Method :OAuth2, so the password is only used to connect to gmail server, if an oauth token needs to be created. If password was used to create an oauth token then token is used thereafter to access server - not the password. When you update the password in webmail and Thunderbird, gmail is supposed to update the token.

So in theory if you remove the old oauth token from the saved passwords, then when you 'Get Messages', gmail should auto prompt you to logon via browser to check you really are you and then create new token.


Just wondering about what version of Thunderbird were you last using on the Windows OS ? If it was a version prior to 60 then differnt files are used for passwords etc in newer versions. Try this: In Thunderbird

  • Help > Troubleshooting Information
  • click on 'Open Folder'
  • Exit Thunderbird.

In profile name folder:

  • locate and delete this file: pkcs11.txt
  • Retart Thunderbird.
more options

Gekose oplossing

Thanks both for your input. Wish I had known about pkcs11.txt earlier.

I actually removed Thunderbird, deleted the .thunderbird file and then re-installed, set up the access. Then, to bring my address book and filters over over, I closed TB, copied over abook.mab (personal address book) and *.default/ImapMail/imap.gmail.com/msgFilterRules.dat. Then I re-started TB, and had to edit each filter to reselect the target folder, and wait while 3 years of mail came down.

Once complete, it all appears to work.

Thanks again. Ian