This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

ابحث في الدعم

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

BT Internet SMTP refuses to work with Thunderbird

  • 3 ردود
  • 2 have this problem
  • 209 views
  • آخر ردّ كتبه david

more options

I'm trying to help someone migrate to Thunderbird.

They have a BT Internet email account.

After entering the settings, incoming mail works successfully, but outgoing mail fails every time with an error.

The error is

Login to server mail.btinternet.com with username xxx@btinternet.com failed. Followed by

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)'.

BT says the settings are:

Outgoing Mail Server: mail.btinternet.com Port: 465 (this may not be automatically populated on selecting SSL, so you'll need to check) SSL Encryption: Enabled (but not STARTTLS) ** I have used the SSL/TLS setting Authentication: PLAIN ** I have selected normal password Username: your email address including the @btinternet or @btopenworld.com part Password: your btinternet or btopenworld password

Have I missed something obvious? It's driving me NUTS!

I'm trying to help someone migrate to Thunderbird. They have a BT Internet email account. After entering the settings, incoming mail works successfully, but outgoing mail fails every time with an error. The error is Login to server mail.btinternet.com with username xxx@btinternet.com failed. Followed by 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)'. BT says the settings are: Outgoing Mail Server: '''mail.btinternet.com''' Port: '''465''' (this may not be automatically populated on selecting SSL, so you'll need to check) SSL Encryption: Enabled (but not STARTTLS) '''** I have used the SSL/TLS setting''' Authentication: PLAIN ** I have selected '''normal password''' Username: your email address including the @btinternet or @btopenworld.com part Password: your btinternet or btopenworld password Have I missed something obvious? It's driving me NUTS!

الحل المُختار

FINALLY found the problem! Turns out every time I tried to copy and paste the password it added an extra space character at the end. As there is no "show password" option it wasn't easy to spot. However, as the correct password was already entered and working for IMAP, and I used the TB setup wizard I don't understand why it didn't use the correct password it already had, or why that failed in the first place!

Thanks for your help David!

Read this answer in context 👍 0

All Replies (3)

more options

Have you tried 587 and starttls? or 587 and ssl/tls?

more options

الحل المُختار

FINALLY found the problem! Turns out every time I tried to copy and paste the password it added an extra space character at the end. As there is no "show password" option it wasn't easy to spot. However, as the correct password was already entered and working for IMAP, and I used the TB setup wizard I don't understand why it didn't use the correct password it already had, or why that failed in the first place!

Thanks for your help David!

more options

I'm glad all worked out.