I would be surprised if your mail provider doesn't offer a secure way to use IMAP in 2016. Could you double-check their setup instructions to make sure your settings match their current recommendations?

By my "mail provider", I presume you are referring to the hosting service of the websites the e-mail addresses are with. If that's the case, it's going to be very difficult to do, as my wife was the administrator of the sites and she unexpectedly passed away 3 weeks ago.

I *might* be able to log into the control panel (if her computer has the log-in info in its cache), but that would be getting into terra incognita.

Is there no other way to disable the security requirements on Thunderbird's side? It's far more important that I be able to access my mail and send mail to my business clients right now and sort out the host/server issues later.

jscher2000 said

I would be surprised if your mail provider doesn't offer a secure way to use IMAP in 2016. Could you double-check their setup instructions to make sure your settings match their current recommendations?

Your provider configures their server. You have to match those settings in an email client like Thunderbird. You do not get to pick them yourself because of a lack of concern for security.

I am very sorry for the loss of your wife. Your hosting provider should be able to help you under the circumstances.

Sorry to hear about your loss. I'm sure this is just one of many difficult/complicated loose ends you have to deal with.

Is there no other way to disable the security requirements on Thunderbird's side?

The objection is not coming from Thunderbird, it's coming from the mail service.

As a temporary workaround, you could try linking a webmail account to your IMAP account and see whether it lets you read new messages. I think Gmail and Yahoo accounts can both link to other accounts.

The trouble I have with accepting that scenario is that it's very unlikely that my provider changed their security requirements in the past few days, so that only leaves Thunderbird (and my possibly foolish "updating" of it) responsible for changing things.

So the "I don't get to pick them myself" explanation doesn't make sense. It sounds to me like *Thunderbird* has decided to pick those settings *for* me, and then not allow me to disable them. Can you offer any other explanation?

Airmail said

Your provider configures their server. You have to match those settings in an email client like Thunderbird. You do not get to pick them yourself because of a lack of concern for security. I am very sorry for the loss of your wife. Your hosting provider should be able to help you under the circumstances.

As it happens, I tried logging into the cPanel on my wife's computer and her log-in had been saved, so I was able to access the info. It showed me the correct port number for the SSL/TLS setting, and I was able to change Thunderbird accordingly. And now it works.

Still, it's very frustrating that Thunderbird thinks it appropriate to refuse to allow unsecured mail. People don't need to be protected from themselves; if they knowingly check "no connection security", that should be their prerogative, just like editing their registry or whatever.

Thanks for the suggestions anyway.

I guess you missed the part where YOUR provider configures their servers. THEY decide what security setting must be used and they do make periodic upgrades to those settings.

So, just to make it clear: are you stating that Thunderbird *does* allow users to configure it to allow non-secure transmission of e-mail?

Because I could find no evidence from the hosting company that the configuration of their settings had changed in the past few months, much less past few days. And yet this change to my ability to send and receive e-mail happened immediately after I had "updated" Thunderbird'; a curious coincidence, to say the least.

Airmail said

I guess you missed the part where YOUR provider configures their servers. THEY decide what security setting must be used and they do make periodic upgrades to those settings.

If Thunderbird ever stops allowing open connections, I would expect those options to be removed from the settings dialog... they are still there, presumably to support mail services that unaccountably do not yet offer encrypted connections.