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gmail refuses to allow Thunderbird to connect as of May 22 as it is "less secure" app

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  • Last reply by david

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Gmail refuses to allow Thunderbird to connect as it is "less secure" app. I used to have access using a "app password" but now even that does not work. Microsoft will be doing something similar this fall. So ThunderBird will not be able to work with Microsoft or Google mail servers. I installed OWL as a temporary work around, but I have multiple email accounts on several domains, and "ModernAuth" seems to use a web access and cookies, which means only ONE email address per domain can be used. What is the work around?

Gmail refuses to allow Thunderbird to connect as it is "less secure" app. I used to have access using a "app password" but now even that does not work. Microsoft will be doing something similar this fall. So ThunderBird will not be able to work with Microsoft or Google mail servers. I installed OWL as a temporary work around, but I have multiple email accounts on several domains, and "ModernAuth" seems to use a web access and cookies, which means only ONE email address per domain can be used. What is the work around?

Chosen solution

The basic steps are to set authentication to Oauth2, remove any Gmail passwords, allow cookies , then connect. Google prompts for your web password and then authenticates for third-party use. There are more extensive explanations elsewhere, but these steps have always worked for me.

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david
david
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You mention many issues, but I will address just the first one: Thunderbird works fine with Gmail; just set it up as a secured app. Although not an Exchange expert, I have used the addon Exquilla successfully with it.

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Thank-you for responding.

I am not sure what you are suggesting. I purchased OWL and it will work somewhat with Microsoft. Google just turned off anything less than web browser based authentication for gmail. How exactly would I cause Google to recognize ThunderBird as a Secure App? I'm willing to try anything sensible.

Thank-you for having taken time to respond.

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david
david
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Chosen Solution

The basic steps are to set authentication to Oauth2, remove any Gmail passwords, allow cookies , then connect. Google prompts for your web password and then authenticates for third-party use. There are more extensive explanations elsewhere, but these steps have always worked for me.

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Perfect. I had not even realized OAuth2 was a choice. But it works. Need to try it on the Microsoft Accounts. This solves so very many issues. Mark it solved!

Thank-you for taking time to help.

david
david
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You're most welcome.