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no more access to Thunderbird after Google introduced 2-step verification

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  • Last reply by sfhowes

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Google introduced 2-step verification on December, 08. My GMail itself is working properly now if used directly. I didn’t change my Gmail password. But most of the time, I use Gmail via Thunderbird. But after the 2-step change of Google-Gmail, I can't make contact with Thunderbird no more. Thunderbird seems to refuse my password that, as said, has not been changed. After two times 'cancel' I come into contact with the messages that did already did come in before the problem arose, but I don't get new posts. Nor can I send messages. Before, till the move of Google, my password and the access to Thunderbird worked fine. I get a fault message in very small characters that the application needs a password of its own and then https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833 .

What shoud I do?

Bernard Gerard

Google introduced 2-step verification on December, 08. My GMail itself is working properly now if used directly. I didn’t change my Gmail password. But most of the time, I use Gmail via Thunderbird. But after the 2-step change of Google-Gmail, I can't make contact with Thunderbird no more. Thunderbird seems to refuse my password that, as said, has not been changed. After two times 'cancel' I come into contact with the messages that did already did come in before the problem arose, but I don't get new posts. Nor can I send messages. Before, till the move of Google, my password and the access to Thunderbird worked fine. I get a fault message in very small characters that the application needs a password of its own and then https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/185833 . What shoud I do? Bernard Gerard

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What's the authentication method on the incoming and outgoing servers? If it's 'normal password', change it to OAuth2, remove the passwords from Saved Passwords in Preferences, check that cookies are accepted in the same section of Preferences, restart TB, enter the account password in the OAuth window to allow TB access.

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I did what you said. Thanks. The answer did partially solve the problem. Now, my situation is:

I have three accounts in Thunderbird, two of myself (call them I and II) that use Gmail and one of an soccer club that I help that uses mail.outlook. If I start up Thunderbird, the soccer account asks for its password and after giving that, I get access to all three accounts. The messages are flowing in.

If I try to send from the soccer account and from gmailaccount II, that works well. They don't ask before sending a password and do silently what I want. If I try to send from gmailaccount I, it asks before sending a password. But whatever I type, it refuses it. So I cannot send from gmailaccount I in the way that things are ment to work. Yet, the server settings in gmailaccount I en gmailaccount II are identical as far as can be seen. I can send from gmailaccount I (that's personal) via the soccer account, but that's not the way things should be.

When I do my research on Gmail and Thunderbird, they want me to visit the SMTP-server . But it's impossible in Thunderbird to do that, because this server is not mentioned in the server settings. I don't know how to adress them en if I could, I don't know what I should do.

Can someone help me?

Modified by bjmgerard

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Tools/Account Settings, Outgoing Server (SMTP) at the bottom of the left pane. There should be separate smtp servers for each sending account. Add more if necessary, and give each one a unique Description. The gmail smtp servers should each have smtp.gmail.com on 465, SSL/TLS, OAuth2, but have different User Names (email address). Then, select each account in the left pane of Account Settings and select the correct smtp in the Outgoing Server (SMTP) drop-down in the right pane. Remove the passwords from Saved Passwords and enter the account password in the OAuth window. An oauth:// token for each account will be stored in Saved Passwords and applied for incoming and outgoing.