gmail authentication error
My 6 gmail accounts work fine on gmail.com. Until yesterday, all 6 accounts worked fine in Thunderbird as well. However, now a Google window has started to continually ask me to log in to just one of those accounts. After I enter credentials for that account, another window asks for permission to give Thunderbird access to the account. I click allow.
Then a little window in the lower right of the screen says "Authentication failure while connecting to server imap.gmail.com". The Thunderbird logo and name appear in that window.
After that window goes away, the Google window asking for login credentials appears again.
All 6 accounts have the same settings. For both incoming and outgoing servers, connection security is SSL/TLS and authentication method is OAuth2.
In gmail security settings, Thunderbird has access to this gmail account.
I can't figure out what is different about the gmail account that has this problem. I have seen online that hundreds of people have similar problems but have not found clear information about what the problem is and how to solve it. I posted my question to the Google forum but have not received a reply.
I am baffled and hope someone can help.
All Replies (10)
This should be fixed in TB 68.2.1, or you can apply the workaround:
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1271783#answer-1262722
TB 68.2.1: https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/68.2.1/releasenotes/
Modified by sfhowes
Thank you. I tried both of the recommended solutions but it still was not working properly. Then I uninstalled and reinstalled the account and it worked.
I am not sure why it started to work but it is certainly possible that the recommended solutions were essential.
I had not realized that TB needed to be manually updated. I guess I was expecting a notification of some sort. It was surprising that when I went to File > About, the update started to download without my prompting.
Anyway, thank you so much. You are a great resource for us.
Here is what worked for me:
Go to Tools->Options menu, select "Advanced" icon, select "General" tab, click "Config Editor" button,click "I accept the risk!", search for "general.useragent.compatMode.firefox" if it shows "false" double click to change to "true", enter your credentials one LAST time when it prompts. The repeating issue stopped for me. No idea why this works??
I would like to thank Yew Kay Yan for this process! It was driving me crazy having to enter Google Credentials Over and Over and Over...
I tried this but it did not work. I am on version 73.0b1. This just started happening when I had to change my password in gmail. My other email accounts are working properly. Any other ideas?
HavasuMike said
I tried this but it did not work. I am on version 73.0b1. This just started happening when I had to change my password in gmail. My other email accounts are working properly. Any other ideas?
When you changed the password, did you delete the old one in Options/Security/Passwords/Saved Passwords, restart TB, and then enter the new one when asked at the next connection? There's no need to change the preference if your version is 68.2.1 or higher. Use OAUth2 authentication if it's an IMAP account.
I have changed the password but it gives the authentication error and never says wrong password. After changing it back, I get the same thing. I think I will delete the gmail account and then add it back. How do I delete the account from TB?
Select the account in Tools/Account Settings, then Account Actions at the bottom of the left pane, Remove Account. If the account is the Default account, set another account as Default, then the account can be removed.
Delete all passwords in Options, restart TB, and add the account. For OAuth to work, cookies must be enabled in Options/Privacy in TB.
sfhowes, Thanks very much. It worked. The only difference is in my version of TB, I have to go to Options/Account Settings. Thanks again.
As of 02/06/2020 I found that Gmail would not allow Thunderbird ver 60 to work at all...
I had just installed Linux Mint ver 18.3 and it installed a default version of Thunderbird ver60... and Gmail did not like it...
I found by upgrading Mint 18.3 's Thunderbird to ver 68 solved the problems...
I found this on Mozilla.com Open a terminal and follow these instructions...
Install Thunderbird in Ubuntu or Linux Mint by using a PPA repository To install Thunderbird 68 in Ubuntu or Linux Mint, you can use the Firefox ESR and Thunderbird stable builds PPA. You'll also receive future Thunderbirds updates by adding the PPA.
You can add the PPA and install Thunderbird 60 by opening a terminal and using these commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/ppa sudo apt-get update sudo apt install thunderbird
The PPA is available for Ubuntu 18.04, 16.04 and 14.04 / Linux Mint 19.x, 18.x and 17.x. Ubuntu 18.10 Cosmic Cuttlefish already has this version so there's no need to add the PPA.
I could then access Gmail from Thunderbird ver68 Dave
Modified by dwmcgaffney
Unfortunately this exact thing just started happening to me on Mint 19.3 (upgraded from 19.2) running Thunderbird 68.4.2. The odd thing is it was working just fine. I ran a few updates - python, mesa, & wayland - yesterday but all seemed fine after. Today I log out, later log back in, start thunderbird and get hit with the authentication errors on gmail.
I'm wondering if I'd have the same headache if I got my own domain and e-mail. With a small VPS running only a few bucks a month it seems worth it but only if the headaches go away.