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IMAP password saved. SMTP password not. Can receive but not send.

  • 5 ŋuɖoɖowo
  • 1 masɔmasɔ sia le esi
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Thunderbird 115.6.0 running on Kubuntu 22.04.

I can receive email over IMAP fine. Sending email times out.

When I look at my saved passwords in edit > settings > privacy > Passwords > Saved Passwords, I find the correct entry for the IMAP server. But no entry for the SMTP server.

I verified that the IMAP and SMTP server entries were entered correctly for my provider in edit > account settings. For what it's worth, my provider uses the same server (mail.twc.com) for each.

Acting on what I saw in some other threads, I deleted the following in ~/.thunderbird while Thunderbird was closed: key4.db cert9.db logins.json pkcs11.txt

Re-launched Thunderbird. Immediately I was prompted for the IMAP server password. Receiving mail works. When I try to send an email, I do not get prompted for a password, and sending email still times out. When I look at the (new) stored passwords, I again have an entry for the IMAP server, but no entry for the SMTP server. If I enter a different server name under account settings and try to send an email, I get prompted for a password, which I entered and clicked the save password box. The send fails because I am using the wrong smtp server. When go back to saved passwords, I now have an entry for the smtp server I entered. I can change the user name and password for that entry, but I cannot change the smtp server.

Is my intuition (that there should be an entry for smtp server in passwords) correct? If so it seems like I can't enter one if the server name coincides with what I entered for the imap server. Or might the inability to send email caused by something else?

Thunderbird 115.6.0 running on Kubuntu 22.04. I can receive email over IMAP fine. Sending email times out. When I look at my saved passwords in edit > settings > privacy > Passwords > Saved Passwords, I find the correct entry for the IMAP server. But no entry for the SMTP server. I verified that the IMAP and SMTP server entries were entered correctly for my provider in edit > account settings. For what it's worth, my provider uses the same server (mail.twc.com) for each. Acting on what I saw in some other threads, I deleted the following in ~/.thunderbird while Thunderbird was closed: key4.db cert9.db logins.json pkcs11.txt Re-launched Thunderbird. Immediately I was prompted for the IMAP server password. Receiving mail works. When I try to send an email, I do not get prompted for a password, and sending email still times out. When I look at the (new) stored passwords, I again have an entry for the IMAP server, but no entry for the SMTP server. If I enter a different server name under account settings and try to send an email, I get prompted for a password, which I entered and clicked the save password box. The send fails because I am using the wrong smtp server. When go back to saved passwords, I now have an entry for the smtp server I entered. I can change the user name and password for that entry, but I cannot change the smtp server. Is my intuition (that there should be an entry for smtp server in passwords) correct? If so it seems like I can't enter one if the server name coincides with what I entered for the imap server. Or might the inability to send email caused by something else?

Ŋuɖoɖo si wotia

I take it this is under the option "connection security", where I find a STARTTLS option.

When I did that email sends nicely (after prompting me for the password).

Yay. I'll have to do some reading about what this is and why it works. Thank you!

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All Replies (5)

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Forgot to say, the same IMAP and SMTP settings I used in the note above work fine when used on my iPhone mail app.

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Sometimes it helps to share the settings of the SMTP server, since that is where the problem appears to lie.

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IMAP Settings Server Name: mail.twc.com port: 993 User Name: <full email address> Authentication Method: Normal Password Connection Security: SSL/TLS


SMTP Settings Server Name: mail.twc.com port: 587 User Name: <full email address> Authentication Method: Normal Password Connection Security: SSL/TLS

Entry in the saved password entry for the imap entry. imap://mail.twc.com (imap://mail.twc.com)

I guess I was expecting there to be another saved password entry that looks the same, but starts with smtp:// instead of imap://.

As mentioned, these settings are in accord with my provider's instructions, and they work in my iPhone's mail app.

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Try changing SMTP to STARTTLS

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Ɖɔɖɔɖo si wotia

I take it this is under the option "connection security", where I find a STARTTLS option.

When I did that email sends nicely (after prompting me for the password).

Yay. I'll have to do some reading about what this is and why it works. Thank you!