Mail setup- outlook verifies the IMAP password and access, but new outlook continuously needs password login for IMAP account

Question

Mail setup- outlook verifies the IMAP password and access, but new outlook continuously needs password login for IMAP account

Mary Yates 0

we have tried many apparent online suggestions to fix the IMAP account access on the new outlook - which worked fine until about 1 week ago.

The mail setup testing of the IMAP accounts proves the password and ports are correct, but the new outlook continuously requests a password and sometimes doesn't do anything but ask for the password -- how do we truly fix this issue?

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Answer 1

Elena-VH 1,325 Independent Advisor

Dear Mary Yates,
Since the account worked previously and only began failing about a week ago, this may be related to a recent Outlook update, changes in your email provider's authentication requirements, or corruption in Outlook's credential storage.

You can try the following troubleshooting steps:

1/ Remove the affected IMAP account from New Outlook and add it again. When prompted, choose any option to remember or save credentials.

2/ Completely clear the stored credentials:

Close Outlook > Open Credential Manager in Windows > Under Windows Credentials, remove any entries related to Outlook, Office, Microsoft 365, or the affected mail server > Reopen Outlook and add the account again. For reference, please refer to Credential Manager in Windows

Moreover, even if credentials are cleared, authentication tokens may still be corrupted. Please try the following:

Close Outlook completely
Press Win + R, type: %localappdata%\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Licensing
Delete everything inside that folder
Then go to: %localappdata%\Microsoft\Outlook
Delete the .ost file (this will rebuild automatically)
Restart your PC, open Outlook, and sign in again.

3/ Check Windows Account Connections

Open: Settings > Accounts > Review: Email & accounts and Access work or school > Look for an old, duplicated, or disconnected account

4/ If you’re running VPNs, proxy servers, or third-party security applications, they might be interfering with Outlook’s connection to your email server.

Additionally, ensure Outlook and Windows are fully updated. Several authentication-related fixes have been released through Outlook updates.

If the issue persists, to better narrow down the cause, could you provide:

Who hosts the mailbox (Gmail, GoDaddy, cPanel, IONOS, Bluehost, private mail server, etc.)?
Does the issue affect all users or only one account?
Are you able to access the same mailbox successfully through webmail or another email client?
Have you tested the affected IMAP account on another device or a different IMAP account in New Outlook on the affected device? If so, does it work normally or show the same behavior?

I hope the information shared is helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out. I'm looking forward to your update.

Mary Yates 0 Reputation points

2026-08-31T16:56:41.07+00:00
Also, after the account was open in outlook for 20 seconds it requested the password again.

It is an IMAP account with Comcast.net

2.and this problem affects the two IMAP accounts we have on the outlook in the exact same way.

We were able to access the mailbox through Outlook for 20 seconds and also on the xfinity login. We were successful bringing up the account on the gmail access to the imap on the ipad. Also, under the Windows mail setup we were able to verify that the credentials for both IMAP accounts worked.
Elena-VH 1,325 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-08-31T18:34:31.5233333+00:00

Dear Mary Yates,

Thank you for the additional information.

Since both Comcast.net IMAP accounts are experiencing the same behavior, the account credentials have been verified successfully, and the accounts work through Xfinity webmail and other mail clients.

In this case, if Comcast supports app passwords for your account, I would recommend trying an app password in Outlook. For reference: How to get and use app passwords

If the issue persists, please try configuring the same Comcast IMAP accounts in Classic Outlook. If so, does it remain connected without repeatedly prompting for the password?
Elena-VH 1,325 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-02T00:53:27.7266667+00:00

Dear Mary Yates,

I hope you're doing well. I just wanted to check in and see if there is any update from you. Looking forward to your update.
Mary Yates 0 Reputation points

2026-09-04T00:20:53.7666667+00:00

We tried Classic Outlook and for some reason it emailed a huge number of priorly emailed invoices -- in some case several copies to my customers, which was unacceptable and i cutoff the installation of Classic Outlook when i realized what happened. Very bad for customer relations!!
Mary Yates 0 Reputation points

2026-09-04T00:26:25.4366667+00:00

The problem has not gone away -- we still need a solution -seriously, it was working fine until a week+ ago!! If an update from Microsoft causes a problem, can't we expect Microsoft to send an update to fix this problem?? Since Comcast doesn't have a problem with the credentials and neither does the Window11 mail account settings - it actually checks the credentials and noted them as valid. How would an app password help such a case??
Elena-VH 1,325 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-04T04:02:40.35+00:00

Dear Mary Yates,

I apologize for the inconvenience and frustration this issue has caused.

Microsoft Outlook offers a centralized platform for managing communications, calendar events, and contacts, but configuring IMAP accounts can sometimes require attention to specific server settings and authentication protocols.

Based on the troubleshooting performed so far, the issue appears to be occurring after the initial authentication succeeds, which may require deeper investigation from the email provider's side. I would recommend contacting Comcast/Xfinity support for further troubleshooting. They may be able to review server-side authentication logs and identify whether there have been any recent changes affecting IMAP connections or authentication with Outlook.

Once the provider has completed their investigation, they may be able to offer specific recommendations or configuration changes based on their observations.

Please understand that as a forum user like you, my resources are limited, and I do not have access to Microsoft's internal systems, Outlook diagnostics, or Comcast's server logs to investigate further. The email provider is in the best position to analyze what is occurring on the server side and provide recommendations based on their findings and observations.
Mary Yates 0 Reputation points

2026-09-04T22:41:57.9966667+00:00

Comcast has completed their investigation and they claim it is not on their end -- specifically because we can access through IMAP on third party emailers as well as the comcast emailer AND the support person we worked with tried all sorts of security reducing accesses while we managed the IMAP accounts in the (new) Outlook app. (removing and re-adding)

The suggestion on their part is that for some recent changes, that Outlook is not handling the Comcast server information (IP address?) consistently enough to stay authenticated.

Please continue to figure out a fix! We need Outlook to do our Fall mailer.
Elena-VH 1,325 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-09-06T11:39:00.1933333+00:00

Dear Mary Yates,

At this point, as a forum user like you, my resources are limited, and I do not have access to Microsoft's internal diagnostics, engineering reports, or the ability to investigate Outlook's authentication process directly.

Therefore, I would recommend reporting this directly to Microsoft through Help > Feedback in Outlook. Otherwise, you can submit a report and your feedback through the Microsoft Feedback Portal: https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback

For now, my recommendation is to keep Outlook updated and watch for future updates that may address the issue. In the meantime, since you need a reliable solution for your Fall mailer, you may consider using another mailbox application. While this is not a permanent fix, it may serve as a temporary workaround until Microsoft releases an update that addresses the issue.

I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate the time and effort you've invested in troubleshooting this problem.