The 'password' with 444 characters is the token stored by the OAuth2 authentication. It is labelled oauth:// in Saved Passwords. Accounts with normal password authentication are labelled imap:// or smtp://. The imap:// and smtp:// entries that show the account password for outlook.com accounts can be removed.

Thank you. That makes complete sense.

Does that mean I can no longer see my saved password in TB? It's handy to check it's the right one for when things go wrong.

I don't think it hurts to leave them exposed, as access to Saved Passwords is protected by your Windows user account password.

Thanks, what I really meant was I can no longer see my actual password for that account. So I can't confirm that it's the right one if I ever need to, unlike all the other passwords. Plus I have to make sure it's written down somewhere else in case I forget it and need it again. Rather negates TB's page where you can view passwords if you can't see the real thing. Or am I misunderstanding it?

By not showing the account passwords, I suppose this adds additional security, but maintaining a list of passwords should probably be done outside of any particular app. There are plenty of password managers, and even a password-protected zip file is probably sufficient.

@sfhowes, Thanks, that seems to confirm that the answer is No. For those Outlook accounts, TB's password page is pretty useless as you cannot see the passwords anyway.

In my own case, all my passwords, email and otherwise, are already stored using my favourite PW manager, Bitwarden, one of the many password managers out there (but also many of my passwords will also have been automatically stored as well in Lastpass, probably in Chrome, maybe in Edge, perhaps Amazon etc. - which really increases my security <ironic grin>).

However, in the past it has been really handy to be able to see my email passwords quickly and in plain text using TB. It saved time opening my Bitwarden PW manager and searching for each of my email account passwords one at a time. In TB they were all shown there on one screen. I used it only recently when trying out different email clients when TB refused to connect and I wanted to set up multiple accounts in those alternative clients quickly.

Personally I find it irritating when programs hide my own data (eg a password) from me as I like to confirm what I have entered. I hate those programs, like Outlook, that ask for a password, show it in asterisks as I enter it and then never show it to me again. I like to be sure I have entered it correctly, particularly if copy/pasting from a password manager. Maybe MS assume everyone is working in an office, surrounded by nefarious office workers looking over your shoulder. Perhaps they don't understand that some people work at home, on their own, and in complete privacy.

End of rant - Thanks for the reply though.