How to change SMTP password in Thunderbird? Normal procedure does not work

How to change SMTP password in Thunderbird?

Password to my SMTP changed recently, and I can't change it to Thunderbird due some bug.

Changing should work like this:

User send email
Thunderbird gets authentication error: Login to server my.smtp.server failed
Thunderbird prompts for new password: Enter New Password

The problem is that when I click Enter New Password, no password prompt appears, Thunderbird just tries to reconnect and that, of course, fails.

Is this a known bug? Is it fixed in later releases? Can I fix the problem manually by editing Thunderbird setting files?

Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux x86_64; en-US; rv:1.9.1.10) Gecko/20100528 Thunderbird/3.0.5

I am using Ubuntu 10.4 and the Thunderbird that comes with it.

Juha Syrjälä

Posted 2010-07-20T07:03:47.537

Reputation: 212

Answers

You have to clear the memorized password in Edit - Preferences - Security - Passwords tab and Memorized passwords button and select the account/password to remove. Next time it will ask for a new password.

Maybe the menu names are a little different because I see them translated on my version.

laurent

Posted 2010-07-20T07:03:47.537

Reputation: 4 166

1Thanks, that work. I still think that there is some bug in TB. Previously when password has changed on the SMTP server, the software has automatically prompted for the new password. – Juha Syrjälä – 2010-07-20T12:44:13.603

Yes, I agree with you this is the way it should work! – laurent – 2010-07-20T20:26:09.920

Unfortunately, this doesn't work for NNTP servers which never prompt you for a password change. There's no way to add a password in that case. – Karl the Pagan – 2013-10-06T02:33:29.297

@KarlthePagan - This doesn't depend on the server, it's a Thunderbird feature to store the password required by the server. This doesn't change the password on any server (mail or news), only the password stored in thunderbird. If you want to change your NNTP password, you will need to change it on the NNTP server, not in Thunderbird (and after in thunderbird also using this answer). – laurent – 2013-10-06T14:42:53.133

@laurent I am never prompted for a password for news.grc.com, see instructions here https://www.grc.com/discussions.htm

– Karl the Pagan – 2013-10-11T20:43:28.837

So I think this feature is not usable for you as it is a password remembering option within thunderbird (nothing to do with the server, no way to change password or use any account management features). If your server ask for a password when you connect and there is no password stored in thunderbird, thunderbird will ask for the password to store it (not the server) and suply it to the server. The question was about how to clear the memorized password in thunderbird, not to change the server password (this doesn't change it on SMTP either) – laurent – 2013-10-11T23:16:14.557

@KarlthePagan If you need to supply a password, you cleared the memorized one and thunderbird doesn't ask for a new one, check if there is no other line with the password memorized in the table and if your account configuration is ok. According to your link, you need to enter the passphrase on both username and password fields... that's what they say: This can be anything you wish, but you MUST enter the same secret passphrase into BOTH the username and password fields. Anyways it deserves another question as it is different and this one was closed 3 years ago... :) – laurent – 2013-10-11T23:24:15.640

in windows, after passwords are cleared, sometimes is required change the account name to email address otherwise you will receive "authentication failed" error (( no matter if password is set correctly )) – AgelessEssence – 2014-02-22T05:25:08.137

This is how I did it, I am using Thunderbird version 2.0.0.22 but the process may work similarly for newer versions:

1) Open Thunderbird

2) Click: Tools - Options - Edit saved passwords

3) Delete sites related to email accounts

4) Restart Thunderbird

5) At prompt, enter new password that you have established with your internet provider.

littlebuddie

Posted 2010-07-20T07:03:47.537

Reputation: 11

Open up Tools -> Account Settings. Scroll / Go dooown to the bottom of that left box. You can see an "Outgoing server (SMTP)" line. Click on it. Now, select your account and delete it.

enter image description here

(If you still can't find it, warning: You may have to check the other menus also. Like Edit. If I remember clearly on Linux it's under a different tab.)

Apache

Posted 2010-07-20T07:03:47.537

Reputation: 14 755

There is no "Account Settings" under "Tools". However, I can find the "Account Settings" under "Edit" and it has the related "Outgoing server (SMTP)" -line. There are checkboxes for "Use name and password" and "Use secure authentication" and field for a user name but no field for passwords. – Juha Syrjälä – 2010-07-20T10:44:08.820

Well. I thought I'd make pictures but its so simple, one cant mess up. :D >> See edit. – Apache – 2010-07-20T11:49:22.843

Removing the account does not help because: "when I click Enter New Password, no password prompt appears" – Juha Syrjälä – 2010-07-20T12:12:04.130

1The problem is not with the account, it is with the memorized password. – laurent – 2010-07-20T12:39:56.240