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unable to add att.net email account

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  • Last reply by Stans

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I have 3 ATT.net email accounts. They work on android devices and Firefox. 2 have been in use for years on Thunderbird. The third is fairly new and get error message when trying to add to Thunderbird. (Unable to log in at server. Probably wrong configuration, username or password). I know the username and password are correct. The configuration is the default pop3 settings (same as other ATT.net accounts on Thunderbird). What is the hangup?

I have 3 ATT.net email accounts. They work on android devices and Firefox. 2 have been in use for years on Thunderbird. The third is fairly new and get error message when trying to add to Thunderbird. (Unable to log in at server. Probably wrong configuration, username or password). I know the username and password are correct. The configuration is the default pop3 settings (same as other ATT.net accounts on Thunderbird). What is the hangup?

Chosen solution

No, you can't. The Secure Mail Key is automatically generated and linked to your account. You can't and don't need to create your own secure mail key or "app specific password". You should be happy that this is the case, because chances of the exact same secure key getting generated for another account is impossible, but manually creating your own key opens a wide security hole because of tendencies to use the same password or slight variations of the same password on multiple accounts.

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Create a "secure mail key" for the new account, then use that in Thunderbird instead of your primary att password. See https://www.att.com/support/article/email-support/KM1240308

Also make sure POP access is enabled for the new account.

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Well I am half way there. I now have the account in Thunderbird but must use the secure mail key (difficult lettering). Can I change sign in to use the password that is linked to the att.net account

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No Yahoo who are in control here require the use of the "secure mail key"

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Do not understand response. I do have the account now and can only access with secure mail key. Want to change to password of my choice. How do I do this?

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No, you can't. The Secure Mail Key is automatically generated and linked to your account. You can't and don't need to create your own secure mail key or "app specific password". You should be happy that this is the case, because chances of the exact same secure key getting generated for another account is impossible, but manually creating your own key opens a wide security hole because of tendencies to use the same password or slight variations of the same password on multiple accounts.