I WANT to enter my email password every session
I DON'T want my email account password to be saved anywhere in Thunderbird and I DO want to have to enter the password each time I start up Thunderbird anew. However, my password is being retained. I've deleted the password entry from Settings & Saved Passwords but seem to have to do that every time before I close down. Where/how can I ensure I have to enter my hotmail password each time I start up Thunderbird please?
Chosen solution
I used to have to enter my email password every time I opened Thunderbird. That's my preferred MO but it stopped a while back, presumably after an update?
No, presumably it stopped at the time you changed the authentication method for your account from 'Normal Password' to 'Oauth2', as required by Microsoft now.
There are no lines starting either imap:// or smtp:// underneath Saved Logins, just the 1 oauth://
The oauth:// line is the authentication token.
Is perhaps the Primary password the equivalent of what I used to have to enter to access Thunderbird?
No, the Primary password is protecting the passwords Thunderbird has remembered. It is not simply falling off a coconut tree, you'll have to deliberately set one. Check the linked support article for details.
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Thanks for your response. Trouble shooting info has > 10,000 characters permitted in this box so can't send. Would have to trim it by 186 characters. Can I email it to you? Separately, if I post anything here, is it publicly visible? Thanks.
You can split it into smaller chunks which don't exceed the character limit of the Reply box.
if I post anything here, is it publicly visible?
Yes, this is a public forum.
The Troubleshooting information does not contain personally identifiable information, unless you check the corresponding box.
Part 1 of 2
Application Basics
Name: Thunderbird Version: 128.3.0esr Build ID: 20240930164946 Distribution ID:
Update Channel: esr User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:128.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/128.3.0 OS: Windows_NT 10.0 19045 OS Theme:
Launcher Process: Enabled Multiprocess Windows: 0/0 Fission Windows: 0/0 Enabled by default Remote Processes: 1 Enterprise Policies: Inactive Google Location Service Key: Missing Google Safebrowsing Key: Missing Mozilla Location Service Key: Missing Safe Mode: false Memory Size (RAM): 7.9 GB Disk Space Available: 393 GB
Mail and News Accounts account1: INCOMING: account1, , (imap) outlook.office365.com:993, SSL, OAuth2 OUTGOING: , smtp.office365.com:587, alwaysSTARTTLS, OAuth2, true
account2: INCOMING: account2, , (none) Local Folders, 0, passwordCleartext
Libraries
Library Status Expected minimum version Version in use Path
RNP (OpenPGP) OK 0.17.1 0.17.1.MZLA.128.3.0esr.botan C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\rnp.dll
OTR Failed to load. OTR chat encryption will not work. - - -
Calendar Settings
Home
Name Value
Name: Type: storage Disabled: false Username: URI: Refresh Interval: Read-only: false Suppress Alarms: false Cache Enabled: false iMIP Identity: id1 iMIP Disabled: iMIP Account: Organiser Id: Force Email Scheduling: Popup Alarms Supported: Alarms on Invitation Supported: Max Alarms Per Event: Attachment Supported: Max Categories: Privacy State Supported: Priority Supported: true Event Supported: Task Supported: Local Time Supported: UTC/GMT Supported: Auto-Scheduling Supported:
Crash Reports for the Last 3 Days
Remote Processes
Type: Count
GPU: 1
Add-ons
Name Type Version Enabled ID
Amazon.co.uk extension 1.1 true amazon@search.mozilla.org
Bing extension 1.0 true bing@search.mozilla.org
Chambers (UK) extension 1.0 true chambers-en-GB@search.mozilla.org
DuckDuckGo extension 1.0 true ddg@search.mozilla.org
Google extension 1.0 true google@search.mozilla.org
Wikipedia (en) extension 1.0 true wikipedia@search.mozilla.org
System theme — auto theme 1.3 true default-theme@mozilla.org
Dark theme 1.3 false thunderbird-compact-dark@mozilla.org
Light theme 1.3 false thunderbird-compact-light@mozilla.org
Security Software
Type: Name
Antivirus: Microsoft Defender Antivirus Antispyware: Firewall: Windows Firewall
Legacy User Stylesheets
Active: false Stylesheets: No stylesheets found
Graphics
Features Compositing: WebRender Font Visibility Debug Info: Windows Platform Asynchronous Pan/Zoom: wheel input enabled; scrollbar drag enabled; keyboard enabled; autoscroll enabled; smooth pinch-zoom enabled WebGL 1 Driver WSI Info: outOfProcess: false
inProcess: true EGL_VENDOR: Google Inc. (Intel) EGL_VERSION: 1.5 (ANGLE 2.1.19739 git hash: 419cd2c3213b) EGL_EXTENSIONS: EGL_EXT_create_context_robustness EGL_ANGLE_d3d_share_handle_client_buffer EGL_ANGLE_d3d_texture_client_buffer EGL_ANGLE_surface_d3d_texture_2d_share_handle EGL_ANGLE_query_surface_pointer EGL_ANGLE_window_fixed_size EGL_ANGLE_keyed_mutex EGL_ANGLE_surface_orientation EGL_ANGLE_direct_composition EGL_ANGLE_windows_ui_composition EGL_NV_post_sub_buffer EGL_KHR_create_context EGL_KHR_image EGL_KHR_image_base EGL_KHR_gl_texture_2D_image EGL_KHR_gl_texture_cubemap_image EGL_KHR_gl_renderbuffer_image EGL_KHR_get_all_proc_addresses EGL_KHR_stream EGL_KHR_stream_consumer_gltexture EGL_NV_stream_consumer_gltexture_yuv EGL_ANGLE_stream_producer_d3d_texture EGL_ANGLE_create_context_webgl_compatibility EGL_CHROMIUM_create_context_bind_generates_resource EGL_CHROMIUM_sync_control EGL_EXT_pixel_format_float EGL_KHR_surfaceless_context EGL_ANGLE_display_texture_share_group EGL_ANGLE_display_semaphore_share_group EGL_ANGLE_create_context_client_arrays EGL_ANGLE_program_cache_control EGL_ANGLE_robust_resource_initialization EGL_ANGLE_create_context_extensions_enabled EGL_ANDROID_blob_cache EGL_ANDROID_recordable EGL_ANGLE_image_d3d11_texture EGL_ANGLE_create_context_backwards_compatible EGL_KHR_no_config_context EGL_KHR_create_context_no_error EGL_KHR_reusable_sync EGL_EXTENSIONS(nullptr): EGL_EXT_client_extensions EGL_EXT_device_query EGL_EXT_platform_base EGL_EXT_platform_device EGL_ANGLE_platform_angle EGL_ANGLE_platform_angle_d3d EGL_ANGLE_platform_angle_d3d11on12 EGL_ANGLE_platform_angle_device_id EGL_ANGLE_device_creation EGL_ANGLE_device_creation_d3d11 EGL_ANGLE_experimental_present_path EGL_KHR_client_get_all_proc_addresses EGL_KHR_debug EGL_ANGLE_feature_control
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Part 2 of 2
inProcess: true EGL_VENDOR: Google Inc. (Intel) EGL_VERSION: 1.5 (ANGLE 2.1.19739 git hash: 419cd2c3213b) EGL_EXTENSIONS: EGL_EXT_create_context_robustness EGL_ANGLE_d3d_share_handle_client_buffer EGL_ANGLE_d3d_texture_client_buffer EGL_ANGLE_surface_d3d_texture_2d_share_handle EGL_ANGLE_query_surface_pointer EGL_ANGLE_window_fixed_size EGL_ANGLE_keyed_mutex EGL_ANGLE_surface_orientation EGL_ANGLE_direct_composition EGL_ANGLE_windows_ui_composition EGL_NV_post_sub_buffer EGL_KHR_create_context EGL_KHR_image EGL_KHR_image_base EGL_KHR_gl_texture_2D_image EGL_KHR_gl_texture_cubemap_image EGL_KHR_gl_renderbuffer_image EGL_KHR_get_all_proc_addresses EGL_KHR_stream EGL_KHR_stream_consumer_gltexture EGL_NV_str
Your Authentication method is OAuth2. That means Thunderbird does not remember your actual account password, but an authentication token. The token expires after some time, and you'll have to re-authenticate. When you delete the authentication token, you'll get prompted to re-authenticate every time Thunderbird starts. To protect any passwords (and OAuth2 tokens) Thunderbird has remembered, you can set a Primary password. https://support.mozilla.org/kb/protect-your-thunderbird-passwords-primary-password
If there are still any lines starting with imap://, or smtp:// underneath Saved Passwords, you can safely delete them. They are not used anymore with OAuth2 authentication.
Thank you. Where do I delete the authentication token please? Originally, I used to have to enter my email password every time I opened Thunderbird. That's my preferred MO but it stopped a while back, presumably after an update? Is perhaps the Primary password the equivalent of what I used to have to enter to access Thunderbird? There are no lines starting either imap:// or smtp:// underneath Saved Logins, just the 1 oauth:// Thanks again.
Chosen Solution
I used to have to enter my email password every time I opened Thunderbird. That's my preferred MO but it stopped a while back, presumably after an update?
No, presumably it stopped at the time you changed the authentication method for your account from 'Normal Password' to 'Oauth2', as required by Microsoft now.
There are no lines starting either imap:// or smtp:// underneath Saved Logins, just the 1 oauth://
The oauth:// line is the authentication token.
Is perhaps the Primary password the equivalent of what I used to have to enter to access Thunderbird?
No, the Primary password is protecting the passwords Thunderbird has remembered. It is not simply falling off a coconut tree, you'll have to deliberately set one. Check the linked support article for details.
Modified
No, presumably it stopped at the time you changed the authentication method for your account from 'Normal Password' to 'Oauth2', as required by Microsoft now.
Oh I see. I didn't ever change from 'Normal Password' to 'Oauth22 consciously or actively. It seemed to happen spuriously. Presumably that change was enforced by Microsoft.
Primary password understood, coconuts notwithstanding.
Thanks for your help.
When your problem has been fixed can you mark your topic as 'Resolved' please? Thank you.