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Password rejected by Yahoo. Solved, but then then folders don't appear.

  • 13 replies
  • 4 have this problem
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  • Last reply by Figgerty

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I have not changed my saved default Yahoo email password for several weeks but suddenly today every time I try to send an email I am asked to enter a password for smtp.mail.yahoo.com. I entered the correct password several times and it was rejected. I then changed the default email password in Yahoo and checked it worked in Yahoo, which it did. I then entered the same password in Thunderbird where the smtp.mail password is required and it was rejected time after time.

My incoming mail seems to be getting through just fine.

What can I do to sort this problem.


Windows 10 OS

I have not changed my saved default Yahoo email password for several weeks but suddenly today every time I try to send an email I am asked to enter a password for smtp.mail.yahoo.com. I entered the correct password several times and it was rejected. I then changed the default email password in Yahoo and checked it worked in Yahoo, which it did. I then entered the same password in Thunderbird where the smtp.mail password is required and it was rejected time after time. My incoming mail seems to be getting through just fine. What can I do to sort this problem. Windows 10 OS

Modified by Wayne Mery

Chosen solution

I love being told off by people who couldn't be bothered replying to me when I was pleading for help - NOT.


This worked for me. As none of the 'solutions' provided by all had worked and I had lost all hope of finding my lost folders, I decided to delete my default account in Thunderbird. I then added the same account to Thunderbird and made it my default, as it was before this security problem. To my amazement, the folders reappeared, all emails were in the right folders and to top it all, I was able to send and receive emails once again.

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All Replies (13)

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I am now able to access my emails after the new password was finally accepted.

I now have a different problem. When I next accessed the folders on the default email folder there are no folders visible and I seem to lave lost all my saved messages. What can have happened and how do I get my emails back?

When I tried sending a new email, didn't have a password problem but had a different one. In sending the message it tried to save a copy to my saved folder - but that does not now exist so it is still trying.. What is going on with Thunderbird?

I have never before lost folders from Thunderbird.

Modified by Figgerty

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Figgerty said

When I next accessed the folders on the default email folder there are no folders visible and I seem to lave lost all my saved messages. What can have happened and how do I get my emails back? When I tried sending a new email, didn't have a password problem but had a different one. In sending the message it tried to save a copy to my saved folder - but that does not now exist so it is still trying.. What is going on with Thunderbird? I have never before lost folders from Thunderbird.

@Matt Top 10 Contributor You locked the question on the lost folders and I can't now ask you where I change the account from iMAP to POP3 ( I thought POP3 was less secure). I did not change anything except the password after the one that had worked for weeks was suddenly rejected.

The server type on all three email accounts linked to Thunderbird is IMAP but only the default email account has lost all the email folders.

Is it time to give up on Thunderbird and change to another client. Yahoo warnings are more frequent & problems more frequent. Please help on this as I need access to an email on one of the missing folders.

Modified by Figgerty

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Is there anybody there??

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I'd give up on Yahoo, not Thunderbird. Yahoo is a constant source of irritations.

You don't change an existing account in Thunderbird from POP to IMAP, or vice versa. You add it as a new account, choosing the alternative type of connection. But doing this won't recover your lost folders.

Are the lost folders still visible via your provider's webmail portal in your browser?

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Zenos, thanks for replying. I was feeling ignored.

The inbox is occasionally visible but is gone again before I can click it. All the other folders are not visible. Why was everything working just fine until my password was rejected. How did POP3 change to IMAP. I didn't change it.

If I give up on Yahoo - used by most of my contacts - what else will I use that I can send and receive emails from Thunderbird. I'm still using a really old Tiscali (old Talk Talk) email, this still works well but I could lose that at any time. I don't think I have a way of logging in to it anymore.

If I delete the default email account on TB, set it up again as a new account, will my folders reappear.

Modified by Figgerty

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Are the lost folders still visible via your provider's webmail portal in your browser?

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What do you mean by a portal?

The lost folders contain email messages from a couple of Yahoo email accounts and a Tiscali one. The messages were sorted into relevant folders in Thunderbird. The folders are not visible anywhere. The brief glimpses of the Inbox I had last night no longer happens.

I find Thunderbird manages my email messages very effectively. I now have a dilemma choosing either another email client or an email provider.

Why is there a conflict between Thunderbird and Yahoo and why can't they sort it out.

Modified by Figgerty

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I have added a new email account to Thunderbird to see if it downloads and sends but when I clicked 'get messages' the attached error code appears.

When I returned just now to try and get messages again, the inbox of the new account has disappeared. I have no idea what's going on but according to the settings the accounts are STARTTLS (Tiscali) and SSL/TLS for the three Yahoo accounts.

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This is an extract from the troubleshooting info. The first account is the one that has lost all the folders. The last one, a ymail one set up easily, extracting security info from Mozilla and then went wrong as soon as I tried to download messages.

Mail and News Accounts

ID Incoming server Outgoing servers Name Connection security Authentication method Name Connection security Authentication method Default? account2 (none) Local Folders plain passwordCleartext account3 (imap) imap.tiscali.co.uk:143 alwaysSTARTTLS passwordEncrypted smtp.tiscali.co.uk:587 alwaysSTARTTLS passwordCleartext true account6 (imap) imap.mail.yahoo.com:993 SSL passwordCleartext smtp.mail.yahoo.com:465 SSL passwordCleartext true account7 (imap) imap.mail.yahoo.com:993 SSL passwordCleartext smtp.mail.yahoo.com:465 SSL passwordCleartext true account8 (imap) imap.mail.yahoo.com:993 SSL passwordCleartext smtp.mail.yahoo.com:465 SSL passwordCleartext true

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I see you've resolved this per https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1170782#answer-997262 by deleting the yahoo account in the Thunderbird profile and then redefining the yahoo imap account.

I deleted deleted approximately 6 other topics including "[CLIENTBUG] SELECT command is not valid in this state" Thunderbird/Yahoo https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1170457

As others pointed out, in future please do not post multiple topics, among other things it hurts being able to help you effectively and wastes our time dealing with multiple topics from the same person.

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Chosen Solution

I love being told off by people who couldn't be bothered replying to me when I was pleading for help - NOT.


This worked for me. As none of the 'solutions' provided by all had worked and I had lost all hope of finding my lost folders, I decided to delete my default account in Thunderbird. I then added the same account to Thunderbird and made it my default, as it was before this security problem. To my amazement, the folders reappeared, all emails were in the right folders and to top it all, I was able to send and receive emails once again.

Modified by Figgerty

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> I love being told off by people who couldn't be bothered replying to me when I was pleading for help - NOT.

You're complaining to someone, me, who was NOT researching and helping with these types of issues at the time you reported it. Well, that can't be helped. But I am researching it now for a few others who have been similarly affected.

You might consider that this is a volunteer operation - people like me give there time here and help because they like doing it.

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Others have pointed out, as you have also pointed out, I should not have posted several questions for the problems I encountered at the beginning of August. As I was not receiving any help I thought I must not be explaining what was going on properly or was posting in the wrong place or using the wrong title. When I had a Thunderbird or Firefox previously I would always have a reply overnight and the person replying would usually stay with the problem until it was solved. This time was different and I don't know why.

I posted on the Yahoo Community also and got little help there, apart from realising I was one of many. I floundered about trying everything suggested by anyone to no avail. It was only when I accepted that I had lost all the saved messages in my default email account in Thunderbird that I got anywhere. That was when I deleted the account and found the solution.

I'm sorry if I sounded unappreciative of your volunteer operation on this problem, but it fell a long way short of the help I received in all the years I have used both Firefox and Thunderbird. I don't know why that was the case.