Can't change my IMAP password in Outlook

IvanDrago · Sep 19, 2022

I have Outlook as a part of MS Home and Business 2021. I have Outlook connected to my Yahoo email account.

To view my current password I went to Outlook > File > Account Settings > Account Settings > Repair > Let me repair my account manually then I click the "Repair" button. I clicked the "eye" icon in the password field to see my password. I don't remember ever choosing this password. It looks like a random string of characters.

To change this I went to Control Panel > Mail (Microsoft Outlook) > Email Accounts (button) > Change (button). After I entered a new password, Outlook failed to connect to the IMAP server.

1. How did I end up with such an odd password to begin with? Did Yahoo somehow automatically assign this to me?
2. Why can't I change my IMAP password?

kgarrett67 · Sep 19, 2022

Did you try to change your password at Yahoo? I'd login using webmail at mail.yahoo.com Follow steps to change your password. Then open Outlook and maybe it will ask for your credentials. Enter your new password and see if that works.

Dru2 · Sep 19, 2022

As noted, you need to first change the password at the email ISP site (Yahoo) first, before you can use it elsewhere. The email server will never allow connection if the password doesn't match there.

IvanDrago · Sep 19, 2022

kgarrett67 said:
Did you try to change your password at Yahoo? I'd login using webmail at mail.yahoo.com Follow steps to change your password. Then open Outlook and maybe it will ask for your credentials. Enter your new password and see if that works.

I'm trying to change the password to what it is when I log into the Yahoo website.

Dru2 · Sep 19, 2022

IvanDrago said:
I'm trying to change the password to what it is when I log into the Yahoo website.

Well then you may need to contact Yahoo as to the problem.

IvanDrago · Sep 19, 2022

Dru2 said:
Well then you may need to contact Yahoo as to the problem.

What's weird is that I just changed my password on Yahoo email. Then when I logged in with it, it didn't work. My old password still worked.

kgarrett67 · Sep 19, 2022

Since you're using iMap, I might suggest to dump that Outlook profile completely and start over.

I believe you can go to the control panel and search for mail. Open mail setup, click on Show Profiles, then click on the affected profile and click Remove.

Make sure Outlook is closed and not running to do this or it won't work.

Then open Outlook and see if it will prompt you to set up a new email account.

jimbo45 · Sep 21, 2022

IvanDrago said:
I have Outlook as a part of MS Home and Business 2021. I have Outlook connected to my Yahoo email account.

To view my current password I went to Outlook > File > Account Settings > Account Settings > Repair > Let me repair my account manually then I click the "Repair" button. I clicked the "eye" icon in the password field to see my password. I don't remember ever choosing this password. It looks like a random string of characters.

To change this I went to Control Panel > Mail (Microsoft Outlook) > Email Accounts (button) > Change (button). After I entered a new password, Outlook failed to connect to the IMAP server.

1. How did I end up with such an odd password to begin with? Did Yahoo somehow automatically assign this to me?
2. Why can't I change my IMAP password?

Use Change / Modify rather than repair from the control panel applet. Repair assumes that current settings are maybe broken and will attempt to restore the settings you previously had. If you can't connect to your imap server either the address or password is wrong.

However if you are using Outlook 2021 and have the latest updates in Windows then I have trouible as well with a couple of email accounts . There's something somewhere in the package that looks like spamhaus.zen or something in the headers that blocks access to some servers.

Cheers
jimbo