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aol stopped working in Thunderbird 7/12/21. This also happened in 11/2020, but it was fixed and worked for 6 months.

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  • Last reply by sfhowes

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What do I need to do to get aol working in Thunderbird again? I can access my aol mail using aol.com but not through Thunderbird. I get an error message "Login to server imap.aol.com with username rozsea2 failed."

I think last time I had to remove my account from Thunderbird and then create a new account. Will that work now?

What do I need to do to get aol working in Thunderbird again? I can access my aol mail using aol.com but not through Thunderbird. I get an error message "Login to server imap.aol.com with username rozsea2 failed." I think last time I had to remove my account from Thunderbird and then create a new account. Will that work now?

Chosen solution

What are your settings? They should be: imap.aol.com on 993, SSL/TLS, OAuth2 authentication, User Name = part of address before @; smtp.aol.com on 465, SSL/TLS, OAuth2 authentication, User Name = part of address before @. If the authentication is currently normal password, change it to OAuth2, remove the passwords from Saved Passwords in Options/Privacy & Security, restart TB, enter the account password in the OAuth window when asked. Accept cookies in TB Options/Privacy & Security for OAuth authentication to work.

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Chosen Solution

What are your settings? They should be: imap.aol.com on 993, SSL/TLS, OAuth2 authentication, User Name = part of address before @; smtp.aol.com on 465, SSL/TLS, OAuth2 authentication, User Name = part of address before @. If the authentication is currently normal password, change it to OAuth2, remove the passwords from Saved Passwords in Options/Privacy & Security, restart TB, enter the account password in the OAuth window when asked. Accept cookies in TB Options/Privacy & Security for OAuth authentication to work.

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AOL made changes w/o telling anyone.

I tried the below fix from Bo445 and it corrected the problem. Thanks Bo445!

 duncanst

Bo445 7/15/21, 1:40 PM more options Found this info below on https://downdetector.com/status/aol/. I used it and my AOL/Verizon incoming and outgoing mail now works. You retain your existing webmail password, and generate a new one for your Thunderbird in- and outgoing mail.

Thunderbird users, listen up. We have to enter a new password for incoming & a new password for outgoing. Go out to AOL web site, then click-on AOL Mail, then click-on "Options" in the upper right, under your email address. Go to Account Info Go to Security (list on the left) Scroll all the way down to "Manage App Passwords" Generate a code for "other" by inputting "Thunderbird" Copy and save it to clipboard.

Go back to Tbird. Click on 3 bars in upper right, then "options" Then "privacy and security" Scroll down to "saved passwords" Delete the old ones. Attempt to receive emails. When prompted, give Tbird the new password. Make sure to check "manage with password manager," or something like that.

Then do the same for sending an email. So, go back into the AOL web site (AOL Mail) and create a 2nd Manage App Password for Outgoing e-mails. Give it a different name from your 1st AOL App Password (maybe name it Thunderbird Out).

Check to make sure the "saved passwords" have one for incoming & one for outgoing.

(ht to DeborahFeller and MegansUncle2)

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duncanst said

AOL made changes w/o telling anyone. I tried the below fix from Bo445 and it corrected the problem. Thanks Bo445! duncanst

Please do not confuse AOL accounts with Verizon accounts. AOL accounts work with the settings posted above, but Verizon accounts are a bit different: for IMAP, use imap.aol.com on 993 and smtp.verizon.net on 465, OAuth2 authentication and SSL/TLS for both. For POP, use pop.verizon.net on 995 and smtp.verizon.net on 465, normal password authentication and SSL/TLS for both, but an app password instead of the account password.

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=3077085