gmail accounts passwords not being remembered
Hi, not sure when this kicked in, but every time I check a google email account in TB I get asked for the username and password and then asked if I want these details to be remembered. I of course click yes, but every time I go to access anything in my gmail account (sent, inbox ...) I get asked for the account credentials again.
I've checked in TB settings and the username and password have not been added to the list of saved passwords.
I have had to disable auto-checking of google emails on TB startup as it just keeps asking for my password. Any ideas how to fix this please? The Authentication Method chosen is OAuth2 and the Connection Security is SSL/TLS. It seems using the old way of STARTTLS with Normal Password is no longer working, hence the reason I needed to change the settings.
With the old way TB would ask if I wanted to store the password. The new OAuth2 way doesn't save it. I have even tried to force the save of credentials by trying the old way just so it stores them and then reverting to the OAuth2 way - if that makes sense. (I deleted the credentials from TB after reading a post somewhere about this problem so I'm not even convinced that they would be referenced if I managed to re-save them anyway!)
Any help would be much appreciated.
All Replies (9)
With OAuth2, your normal Gmail password is not saved/remembered by Thunderbird. Instead, an OAuth2 token is saved. See https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1367021?utm_campaign=questions-reply&utm_source=notification&utm_medium=email#answer-1512139 and https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/automatic-conversion-google-mail-accounts-oauth20
Thanks for the reply.
Cookies are enabled and all allowed, but it is still doing the same thing.
Is there anything else that could be stopping it from working correctly?
First, confirm that you're actually completing the OAuth2 authorization process. That is, after you've changed the Authentication Method to OAuth2 for both incoming and SMTP server, a window opens asking you to sign in to your Google account. Your Gmail username (Gmail email address) is prefilled and you're then asked for the password. After entering your password and passing the 2-factor authentication (if enabled for your Google Account), you're finally asked to allow Thunderbird access to Gmail. Are you experiencing any hiccups with this process?
but it is still doing the same thing
If you mean you're still getting the old password dialog prompt, which actually has the "Remember" checkbox, then you still have Normal Password instead of OAuth2 in Account Settings.
Once i changed over to OAuth2 for in and outgoing, I did indeed get the google sign in modal pop-up. I signed in (address already filled in) and it asked me to confirm via my mobile (2 step verification i believe?) which I did. It then asked if I wanted to allow TB access to my account, to which i said yes.
I did all this and it allowed me access to my mail, but as soon as i move and request access again - like checking sent items or moving away and coming back to inbox, the pop-up comes back asking for my google account credentials. TB just doesn't 'remember' my details or that I have allowed it access to my google account.
In that case your Thunderbird profile is corrupt or missing something essential to storing credentials. See https://support.mozilla.org/questions/1375453 for a possible solution.
It's not a corrupt profile as I have downloaded a second copy and it does the same thing. I ran the TB wizard to add an account and it tells me 'Unable to log in to server. Probably wrong configuration, username or password.'
I know it's not my credentials as I have used them on the gmail web app.
My settings are:
INCOMING SERVER
Protocol: IMAP Hostname: imap.gmail.com Port: 993 Connection security: SSL/TLS Authentication method: OAuth2 Username: <my gmail address>
OUTGOING SERVER
Hostname: smtp.gmail.com Port: 465 Connection security: SSL/TLS Authentication method: OAuth2 Username: <my gmail address>
I use 2-step authentication on my phone to confirm it's me and then i get this error!
Modified by wilko007
It's not a corrupt profile as I have downloaded a second copy and it does the same thing. I ran the TB wizard to add an account and it tells me 'Unable to log in to server. Probably wrong configuration, username or password.'
I know it's not my credentials as I have used them on the gmail web app.
My settings are:
INCOMING SERVER
Protocol: IMAP Hostname: imap.gmail.com Port: 993 Connection security: SSL/TLS Authentication method: OAuth2 Username: <my gmail address>
OUTGOING SERVER
Hostname: smtp.gmail.com Port: 465 Connection security: SSL/TLS Authentication method: OAuth2 Username: <my gmail address>
I use 2-step authentication on my phone to confirm it's me and then i get this error!
wilko007 said
It's not a corrupt profile as I have downloaded a second copy and it does the same thing
A second copy of what, Thunderbird? That doesn't change your profile, only the program files. If this is indeed a new blank Thunderbird profile, then enter your name, email address and leave the password field blank. When you click Continue, the OAuth2 sign in window will open and you can complete the process.
Its a self-contained (portable) version on Linux. It is separate and asks me to set up a primary account. I try to do this and it says that my credentials are fine but my configuration isn't. I don't know how it can be wrong if all I have done is select the correct server settings?
It just keeps asking me for my un and pw via the google login modal (OAuth2).