This topic

How do I find my IMAP password?

UlsterSurfer — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 15:27:22 GMT

How do I find out my IMAP password in Mail? I'm trying to set up a new Apple Mac, my old one has been running for many years so can't remember the password and it's hidden when I try to access the 'server settings' preference pane. Any ideas?

Re: How do I find my IMAP password?

licquorice — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 15:29:48 GMT

You can't. You will need to take the forgotten password route here and change it.

Re: How do I find my IMAP password?

UlsterSurfer — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 16:02:54 GMT

Is my IMAP password the same as my BT log in? (And the SMTP one too?)

Re: How do I find my IMAP password?

gg30340 — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 16:07:15 GMT

If you have at some point logged onto your email account using a web browser you may find that the password has been saved in the browser.

Depending on the browser you will find any stored passwords section in the browser's settings and if its there you should be able to view it.

Re: How do I find my IMAP password?

gg30340 — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 16:08:37 GMT

@UlsterSurfer wrote:

Is my IMAP password the same as my BT log in? (And the SMTP one too?)

Assuming you only have one email account, yes it is most likely the same.

Re: How do I find my IMAP password?

licquorice — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 16:21:21 GMT

Your IMAP password will definitely be the same as your SMTP pasword.

Re: How do I find my IMAP password?

UlsterSurfer — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 17:11:54 GMT

I'm not intending to use the browser, but the Mail app that I've used for years. I can access the browser e-mails fine, but they won't download to my Mac.

Re: How do I find my IMAP password?

licquorice — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 17:22:38 GMT

As @gg30340 has said, if your browser has saved the password, just look for it in your saved password list.

The password for webmail via the browser will be the same as your SMTP and IMAP passwords.

If you can't access your password via your browser's saved password list, you will need to change it via webmail at the link I posted.

Re: How do I find my IMAP password?

UlsterSurfer — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 15:14:27 GMT

Ok, maybe I'm not clear on this. I'll start again.

I'm trying to create a new Mail account with BT on a newer Apple Mac. Mail is an app. My server settings require passwords for IMAP and SMTP, which are already filled in on an older Mac are starred out, with no option to make them visible. They are not the same password as my Mail browser account. I need to fill in these two passwords on my new iMac, but they cannot be copied and pasted.

My browser has NOT saved the Mail password as it is not a browser app, but a standalone app where the e-mails download to my computer and are read or composed there, not via a browser. The Mail app won't let me see the passwords in clear text, hence the problem. I can read the e-mails in the browser but not on my computer.

However: it might be due to the fact I've just read that unless I'm paying BT £7.50 extra per month my e-mails are browser only; despite being with BT since the 1990s I may have been downgraded. Is this true?

Re: How do I find my IMAP password?

gg30340 — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 15:47:06 GMT

What you need are not passwords, You need the BT server settings for the IMAP protocol which are contained in the following link.

BT Email server settings | BT Help

If you are no longer a BT Broadband customer or paying for your email account through a BT Premium email account your email account will have been "downgraded" to the BTMail basic account which can not be used with and email client/app.

See link

BT Email products | Types of BT Emails | BT Help

Re: How do I find my IMAP password?

licquorice — Mon, 20 Feb 2023 16:10:58 GMT

@UlsterSurfer You appear to be misunderstanding.

Your email password will be exactly the same regardless of how you access your mail, either via app or via web browser.

If you can access your mails via a browser without entering your password, your browser must have stored your password which you can retrieve by inspecting your saved password list in the browser.

If you cannot retrieve it that way you will need to change your password. This can only be achieved by using a browser and following the forgotten details route here

Basic mail is only applicable to customers that no longer have a BT Broadband account.

Re: How do I find my IMAP password?

Steve_Withnell — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 08:19:25 GMT

That is exactly my experience.

However, you didn't mention Cinderella.

If I change my password on the BT website (BT.com/email), then the clock has to strike midnight before I can effectively change any of my client eMail apps (eg Outlook for Android, Outlook for desktop) which makes it very confusing. If you use the new password with a client before midnight, the server will reject it.

Re: How do I find my IMAP password?

licquorice — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 08:42:57 GMT

Hmm, I've never encountered that. I'll try later when I have a bit more time.

Re: How do I find my IMAP password?

licquorice — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 12:47:09 GMT

No Cinderella effect here. Just changed password in webmail, opened MS Outlook 2010 immediately afterwards to be greeted with a wrong password form, entered new password and logged straight.

Also updated immediately on Android Blue Mail