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Imap account with Gmail cannot be created

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I am trying to create an Imap account with Gmail, but always get the message: "Configuration could not be verified - is the username or password wrong?"

Username and password are not wrong. Imap is enabled in my Gmail settings. 2-Step Verification is enabled for my Google account. I tried to use my regular Google password but it doesn't work and I was told to use instead a special App password. I generated a 12 letters App password for mail (Thunderbird) on my Windows computer and used that password instead of my regular Google password, but get always the same error message nevertheless.

What can be wrong?

I am trying to create an Imap account with Gmail, but always get the message: "Configuration could not be verified - is the username or password wrong?" Username and password are not wrong. Imap is enabled in my Gmail settings. 2-Step Verification is enabled for my Google account. I tried to use my regular Google password but it doesn't work and I was told to use instead a special App password. I generated a 12 letters App password for mail (Thunderbird) on my Windows computer and used that password instead of my regular Google password, but get always the same error message nevertheless. What can be wrong?

All Replies (6)

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Have you tried it without the 2-Step Verification?

What version of TB? Any add-ons?

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Thank you,

Yes I tried without the 2-Step Verification.

Version of TB is 31.3.0.

There is no add-ons. However, I see that there are several plugins that are activated.

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Go to your gmail page and check Less Secure Apps.

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This was done, it leads to the use of a special 12 letters App password, to no avail.

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How old is the GMail account?

From https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/thunderbird-and-gmail

"Gmail accounts created on or about June 2014 (exact date unknown, Google only mentions "second half of 2014" in their new authentication blog post) won't work with Thunderbird until the Thunderbird team implements Google's non-email-standard authentication. This is currently scheduled for Thunderbird 38 which will be released on April 7, 2015. See bug 849540 for the full technical details."

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Thanks, that must be it. I cannot remember whether the account is older or not, but that would explain my problem.