Thunderbird changes hotmail password?
I've appreciated using Thunderbird for an ad-free Hotmail experience for quite some time. I've changed my Hotmail password every few weeks lately and Thunderbird worked fine when I entered the new password at the prompt when Thunderbird started.
Just now however, I needed to get into my Microsoft account that uses the same password as my Hotmail account. My login to Microsoft failed. Trying to understand why, I looked in Thunderbird at the saved password for Hotmail's server:
oauth://login.microsoftonline.com (https://outlook.office.com/IMAP.AccessAsUser.All
https://outlook.office.com/POP.AccessAsUser.All https://outlook.office.com/SMTP.Send offline_access)
The saved password was a 464 character long ASCII string totally irrelevant to the password I'd selected for Hotmail and Microsoft.
I went through the password change process for Hotmail, was then able to get into my Microsoft account and restarted Thunderbird. As usual, Thunderbird asked for the new password. I entered it and was then able to receive new mail from the Hotmail server in Thunderbird. However, again, the saved password in Thunderbird for Hotmail was not the password I'd entered.
Next, I deleted the saved passwords in Thunderbird, restarted it and this time it prompted me to be sure I'd downloaded it from a reliable source. I've never seen that prompt before. It came with my Linux Mint installation, so I thought it would be safe, but again there's an irrelevant password saved for my Hotmail account.
It's like it eventually changes my password for Hotmail and Microsoft since I can get mail through Thunderbird with the odd password it saves, but if I use what should be my password for Hotmail or my Microsoft account via a web page interface, the password doesn't work.
I'll have to stop using Thunderbird if this continues.
Modified by change2peace+firefox
Chosen solution
That "464" character long "password" that is saved by Thunderbird is NOT your Microsoft/Hotmail account password. It's an access token that's issued to Thunderbird as a result of the Oauth2 authentication process. If you try to use this token to sign in to your Hotmail account via a browser, it won't work. Likewise, your Hotmail password won't work with OAuth2 authentication in Thunderbird, or any other email client that supports OAuth2 (modern) authentication. Thunderbird has no facility or capability to change your Microsoft account password. All major email service providers are moving to modern authentication methods (e.g OAuth2) away from the old legacy basic authentication methods that used to insecurely transmit your account password.
So, let Thunderbird save that token in its password vault and leave it be.
Read this answer in context 👍 1All Replies (5)
Chosen Solution
That "464" character long "password" that is saved by Thunderbird is NOT your Microsoft/Hotmail account password. It's an access token that's issued to Thunderbird as a result of the Oauth2 authentication process. If you try to use this token to sign in to your Hotmail account via a browser, it won't work. Likewise, your Hotmail password won't work with OAuth2 authentication in Thunderbird, or any other email client that supports OAuth2 (modern) authentication. Thunderbird has no facility or capability to change your Microsoft account password. All major email service providers are moving to modern authentication methods (e.g OAuth2) away from the old legacy basic authentication methods that used to insecurely transmit your account password.
So, let Thunderbird save that token in its password vault and leave it be.
I suspect you nailed it, Stans. We have to assume, then, it was mistyping my usual password that locked me out of my Microsoft account last night. I'll continue to use Thunderbird for Hotmail. I'll access my Microsoft account via the Web over the next few days with my usual password to be sure, then mark this solved. Thank you in advance!
Of late my Hotmail account in Thunderbird mail client throws an error saying my saved password is wrong ... i know its bluffing !! So I am now ( sadly ) collecting mail from web using the SAME password . I see some mention about Hotmail authorizing Thunderbird with some insanely long token ( new and hi tech what ever that means )
Can I get a token also ?
Hello,
I have the same problem and get the same message as ragunath3
olivesiup said
Hello, I have the same problem and get the same message as ragunath3
ragunath73 said
Of late my Hotmail account in Thunderbird mail client throws an error saying my saved password is wrong ... i know its bluffing !! So I am now ( sadly ) collecting mail from web using the SAME password . I see some mention about Hotmail authorizing Thunderbird with some insanely long token ( new and hi tech what ever that means ) Can I get a token also ?
You need to change your account settings in Thunderbird to use the OAuth2 authentication method instead of Normal Password authentication. Steps are as follows:
- Right-click your Hotmail account in Thunderbird's Folder Pane (left pane) then select Settings. This will open the Account Settings tab, with your Hotmail account highlighted on the left pane. On the main pane, you should various settings for your account, such as the Account Name, Default Identity etc.
- Scroll to the bottom of the main pane and click the Edit SMTP Server button.
- In the SMTP Server dialog box that opens, under the Security and Authentication heading, click the drop-down field next to Authentication method and select OAuth2. This changes settings for your account's outgoing (SMTP) server. Click OK to close the dialog box and return to the Account Settings tab.
- On the left pane of the Account Settings tab, immediately below your Hotmail account, click on Server Settings. Your current incoming server settings will appear on the main pane.
- Under the Security Settings heading, next to Authentication method, click the drop-down field that currently has "Normal Password" and select "OAuth2" instead. This changes the Authentication Method for the incoming server (IMAP or POP).
- Close the Acocunt Settings tab, Quit Thunderbird via its menu then relaunch it.
When Thunderbird opens, it will attemp to sign in and fetch messages from your Hotmail account. Instead of the old "enter password" prompt, a browser window will open asking you to sign in to your Hotmail account. This is part of the OAuth2 authentication process. Sign in like you normally would in a browser, then proceed with the prompt to allow/authorize Thunderbird to connect to your Hotmail account. You will get a similar prompt when you send a message from your Hotmail account in Thunderbird.
These steps are confirmed to work on Thunderbird version 115. If you are not on version 115 yet, they may not work as is.