This topic

Dreaded Outlook Password popup again

jethro — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 17:03:50 GMT

Using Microsoft ffoice 365 have started getting the dreaded Outlook Password Popup again - I know this has been an ongoing recurring problem for some users - usually it disappears after 15 mins or so ( I undertstnd that it's something to do with synchronisation) but this time it seems to be more persistent - still getting the popup after 1 hour - I have restarted Outlook and done a Repair but no joy.

BT e-mail OK on my phone and BT Webmail.

Any ideas please

Re: Dreaded Outlook Password popup again

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 17:16:33 GMT

Don't have 365 but previous versions of Outlook allowed the timeout for a response from a mail server to be increased. Might be worth a look dependeing on whether the server is just slow responding or not responding at all.

Re: Dreaded Outlook Password popup again

jethro — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 11:01:38 GMT

Thanks - do I increase/decrease it ? - I can receive emails OK in Outlook - just can't send them - so it looks like it's SMTP ?
I still have the problem - been 3 days!- done a repair of Office 365 etc.

Re: Dreaded Outlook Password popup again

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 11:07:50 GMT

You increase it so that the server has more time to respond before Outlook throws up the error.

Something else often suggested is to make a note of your external IP address & then reboot the router. Check that you have a different IP address & try again. This apparently may route you to a different mail server. If the IP address doesn't change on a simple reboot, try leaving the router powered down for a few minutes.

Re: Dreaded Outlook Password popup again

jethro — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 22:28:07 GMT

The problem has got worse, after 'advice' from BT Tecnical Support ( I found out later that they were not the Email Support Team!)

After getting the dreaded popup in Outlook I contacted BT Technical team via Chat

BTW am using Outlook from Office 365 in Windows 11

Went through detail of problem - I expalined that in the past there had been issues with Outlook and BT Mail but they were intermittent - my current circumstances were more serious as it had been a problem for over 3 days - now a week.

Various unsatisfactory rabbit holes were suggested ( changing port numbers etc) - but it was clear that the issue is related to synchronisation of the SMTP server as as receiving mail is not an issue.

The technical team suggested that I remove the btinternet accounts from Outllook - and then add them back

In parallel I decided to add my hotamail and gmail accounts to Outllook - this worked and they both sent/received OK.

However I could not add any of my previous btinternet accounts back into Outlook - error is that the link to server drops -( no facility adjust the timeout)

So I am left with no access to all my btinternet emails - except via webmail which doesn't integrate with Teams etc

Looking at the web there seem to be some similar issues documented but no solutions - given that the sysnchronisation issue has been around for some time why has no-one in BT addressed it seriously?

Can Moderators help please.

Re: Dreaded Outlook Password popup again

licquorice — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 22:34:48 GMT

If the mail is ok on a mail app on your phone, the problem would appear to lie with Microsoft rather than BT.

Can you confirm 2 things.

1. You are either a BT broadband customer or paying for Premium email if not.

2. Mail app on your phone works ok when connected to your home broadband rather than 4G. I.e it is being accessed from the same IP address.

Re: Dreaded Outlook Password popup again

jethro — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 10:26:58 GMT

@licquorice : Yes and Yes

This problem is persistent rather than the intermittent issue which has happened in the past.

Scanning the Web it seems that the source of this problem has not been identified - either BT or Microsoft. One of my issues with BT is that they know there is a problem but there is no official info about this, even acknowledging this - in fact, all there seems to be is random suggestions : one techie suggested removing the accounts from Outlook and adding them back ( This hasn't worked - I can't restore my messages) and another saying that I shouldn't use special characters in my BT Mail password - I've been using special characters for years - with no problems. I was also told that the technical support team can't look at the SMTP server diagnostics.

As a Distinguished Sage could you please point me in the direction of getting this problem addressed by someone in BT who has appropriate technical knowledge - i.e. understands the communication between BT Mail and other mail systems ( Many years ago I was in a team in BT who actually did this but technology has moved on from then!)

Re: Dreaded Outlook Password popup again

Anonymous — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 10:34:11 GMT

Scanning the Web it seems that the source of this problem has not been identified - either BT or Microsoft.

I guess trying another non-MS client would prove that. Maybe try Thunderbird but make sure you stay with IMAP, you don't want to download all your mail!

Re: Dreaded Outlook Password popup again

licquorice — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 11:36:45 GMT

It does rather point to Microsoft if you can access your mail via a mobile using the same IP address.

As @Anonymous has said, try a different client as a test.

Re: Dreaded Outlook Password popup again

Anonymous — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 11:44:43 GMT

I'd missed the mobile data was OK. So something else that might be worth a try before resorting to another client would be to set Google DNS on one of your devices, to see if you still get the error.

Re: Dreaded Outlook Password popup again

jethro — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 12:38:05 GMT

Just tried Thunderbird - receiving mail OK -but got these 2 messages when I tried to send

------------------

1. Login to server mail.btinternet.com with username xxxx.xxxx@btinternet.com failed

2. Sending of the message failed.
Unable to authenticate to Outgoing server (SMTP) mail.btinternet.com. Please check the password and verify the 'Authentication method' in 'Account Settings | Outgoing server (SMTP)'.

-------------------------------------

Outgoing server settings in Thunderbird :

Description : <not specified>

Server Name : mail.btinternet.com

Port : 465

User Name : xxxx.xxxx@btinternet.com

Authentication method : Normal password

Connection Security : SSL/TLS

----------------------

P.S. @Anonymous Thanks for the two suggestions but checking IP address and Google DNS but not sure what those mean !

I will try the method I found lurking in the community - disconnecting all my devices (PC + 3 Android ) from BT Mail

Re: Dreaded Outlook Password popup again

Anonymous — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 12:45:57 GMT

Just do a web search for "Google DNS on Windows x", with x being your Windows version.

Re: Dreaded Outlook Password popup again

licquorice — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 12:55:32 GMT

You could also try disconnecting your hub from line for half an hour or so to trigger a different IP address and see if that works.

Re: Dreaded Outlook Password popup again

gspearson — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 15:31:08 GMT

Is this an IMAP v POP3 issue? I can't see how this could be but worth a check?

Re: Dreaded Outlook Password popup again

jethro — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 17:58:42 GMT

Hot off press

I realised that my wife's PC also runs Outlook 365 so I tried to add my BT Mail account to Outlook on her PC and it worked and I was able to send emails ( BTW she gets the intermittent 'password popup problem' - i.e. having to repeatedly click on the OK button until the popup stops appearing and the email in the Outbox is sent.

As the two PCs are connected to the same BT router it looks like the problem might be with Outlook on my PC - I did do a repair on it but will now do a full uninstall/reinstall.

Re: Dreaded Outlook Password popup again'

jethro — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 18:37:05 GMT

That went better than expected!

Although having done the Microsoft 365 repair process earlier in the week ( the full Online Repair) and getting no resolution to the problem , I thought I woulld repeat it before the full uninstall/install process - and would you believe it - this time it seems to have worked.

I have been able to restore my BT Mail account back into Outlook and all my mail folders have been restored - I was able to send mail.

THE ONLY DIFFERENCE from what I did last time is that I used the Mail(Microsoft Outlook) option in Control Panel to add the account NOT the Add Account option under File within Outlook.

Very curious !

@gspearson @licquorice @Anonymous

Thanks for your suggestions

Re: Dreaded Outlook Password popup again'

licquorice — Sun, 24 Mar 2024 18:46:03 GMT

Glad you got it sorted

And again Re: Dreaded Outlook Password popup again

jethro — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 09:56:26 GMT

This problem has reocurred for another long period - have tried what I did last time but this time no luck in restoring sending from Outlook 365.

However I can send from :

BT Mail app on Android ( Phone + tablet )

BT Web Mail

Classic and 'New' Outlook on PC - free but this has ads!

Outlook.com on PC - fiddly

The only place I can't send from is Outlook 365 which is part of Microsoft 365 - this happens on both my Windows PCs. I pay an annual subscription for Microsoft 365.

Outlook 365 is my preferred option because of level of integration with other apps.

Also I have Hotmail and Gmail accounts in my Outlook 365 - I can send from these successfully

I assume that the network route from Outlook 365 to BT Mail servers is different for the 'native' Outlook so suspect the problem is somewhere betwwen the 365 servers and the BT Mail Servers. As I think I have said before the BT Mail team said they don't have visibility of the BT Mail SMTP servers so cannot do any diagnostsics.

I surely can't be the only person with this problem - I have tried stuff from the Microsft Community area but nothing from there works.

Moderators - any response please?

Re: And again Re: Dreaded Outlook Password popup again

gg30340 — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 11:29:02 GMT

If your email is working ok when you use webmail it is unlikely that the moderators will be able to do anything to help because BT, while the let you use email clients and supply the server details they do not support, that is offer assistance with email clients.

If the problem is only happening with Outlook 365 it would suggest the problem lies there.

Re: And again Re: Dreaded Outlook Password popup again

jethro — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 14:21:33 GMT

Thanks - however the fact that Outlook 365 works with Gmail and Hotmail addresses but not BT Mail addresses seems to indicate an interworking problem which I would have expected BT to have some view on.

I would expect at least a courtesy post from the Moderators to indicate if this is not something that they wish to pursue.