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Summary: Desktop email programs will often prompt for information they need to do their work. In order to send or receive email, a username and password are required.
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Why does Microsoft Outlook ask for a username and password when I press send and receive? |
There are two levels to this question, and I'm going to address them both.
One: in addition to an email program you need an email account in order to send and receive email.
Two: your email program needs to know about that account.
Two-and-a-half: OK, sometimes your email program can get confused.
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Occasionally, I get questions from folks who are essentially asking why it's not enough to just get an email program like Outlook or Outlook Express to send email, without having to sign up for an email service.
Your email program is not your email.
By that I mean, your email program - be it Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird - or even web interfaces like Hotmail, GMail or Yahoo - are merely tools that you use to access your email. They don't, by themselves, give you an email address or make it possible for you to send and receive email.
You need an email account.
You can get an account from any of several different places. You can sign up with free email services like GMail, Hotmail and the like, for example. If you have an internet connection at home, it's very likely you already have an email account through your ISP.
An email account is typically identified by three bits of information:
"Username" and "email address" are sometimes the same, but not always.
Your username and password identify you to your email service, and your email address identifies you to the world.
Once you have an email account, if you're using a desktop program to access your email, you'll need to configure that program with the same three bits of information: username, account and email address.
Some programs will ask you to configure only username and email address - the first time you try to download or send email they will prompt you for the password, and then offer to remember it for you.
If at some later time your password ever changes, the program will notice that the old password it has didn't work and will prompt you again expecting you to enter the new one.
Read that last paragraph again, and notice what happened: the program tried to connect and send or receive email, and that attempt failed due to a bad password. Figuring that the password was bad, it asks you for the correct one.
In fact it doesn't have to be a password failure for the program to ask you.
It your email program attempts to send or receive and that fails for reasons that might possibly be due to a bad username or password, the program could prompt you for those again. Note that it's not saying that the username and password are bad, it's saying that the failure it's experiencing might be due to a bad username or password.
Or not.
And of course that "or not" is where a lot of confusion arises. I've seen email programs prompt for username and password simply because the computer wasn't connected to the net. Re-entering the username and password isn't going to fix that.
The most common possibilities for your email program prompting you for your password again include:
You changed your password, and your email program simply needs to know the new one.
You're having connectivity problems to your email server. Try again later, or from a different location.
Your email program is slightly confused. I've seen Thunderbird get into this state. Exit and restart your mail program.
Your email account has been closed or suspended.
Someone else changed your password, or your account has been stolen.
Your email service no longer provides POP3/IMAP/SMTP access as used by desktop email programs.
You don't have an email account. See the first part of this article.
There are probably even more possibilities, but those are the most common. In general check to make sure your password is correct, perhaps log into a web-based interface if your email service provides one, restart your email program, or wait a while to see if the problem goes away.
Related:
Are free email services worth it? Free email services and accounts are convenient and ubiquitous. But free email services aren't the right place to keep your important information.
Thunderbird - A Free, Open Source, and Powerful Email Client Thunderbird is a robust and powerful email program that can meet the needs of both light and power users. I use it all day every day.
How do I backup my GMail? Relying on free email services - even GMail - can be an unnecessary risk. Fortunately GMail makes it possible, even easy, to backup your email.
Article C3548 - October 30, 2008
I am wondering if the question was worded correctly. My Outlook asked for name and password everytime I log into my email account. Even when I check the box to remember the password. When I log on it asks for a password and after the email is downloaded it again asks for the name and password. Is this what the question was ment to say?
Posted by: Robert at November 4, 2008 3:24 PMRe: Comment 1 - That is my problem. I set up my account (following the instructions to the letter).
Posted by: Norm at November 4, 2008 10:14 PMDifference here: When I try to save my Password I get a message saying the password cannot be save to this machine! Thus, the continual prompts for a password. This may be happening to the person (a guess on my part). If so, it should have been mentioned.
LEO: Is a followup in order here? Should this be posed as a "new" question?
I believe Norm has hit it on the head about username and password. But because I have two computers sitting side by side hooked up to the same network through a 5port nway switch hub and has always worked until there had been a change in ownership and my email on one machine always ask for a username & password that does not work.
Posted by: Fred Scott at November 5, 2008 10:31 PMCould it be the new company wants additional fees
for two PCs on the same simple network.
I have Outlook XP 2002 from Microsoft Office Pofessional XP 2002 and Vista will not remember your password even when you tell it to. The problem is with Vista and Microsoft will not fix this problem because they want you to buy a newer version of Micosoft Office
Posted by: John Minick at November 11, 2008 11:22 AMThere is a fix that I found for the problem of computer not remembering the password even when the box is checked in outlook express. I found the fix by doing a search on the Microsoft site but it involves going into the registry and I was afraid to do so.
Posted by: Rusie at November 12, 2008 1:33 PMHave the same problem with Vista's Windows Mail and when I purchased MS Office and use Outlook 2007... everyone (HP and Internet Provider) blame it on Vista but don't know how to fix it!
Posted by: Lynne at January 1, 2009 5:17 PMI changed my password for accessing my Comcast email several weeks ago. Now when I try to use Outlook (not Express) it will ask fro my password. If I enter the new one, sometimes it process just fine. Other times it does not. But if I enter the old password, it will process.
How do I fix this?
Posted by: Dick Freeman at January 6, 2009 12:12 PMOne thing that you need to check is the "Protected Storage Services", with Service disabled, programs which needs password will experience the mentioned situation. The edit the service go to Start Then Run, Run %SystemRoot%\system32\services.msc
Posted by: WilliamWK at June 26, 2009 4:16 PMLook For Protected Storage, and make sure it is running, if not make it automatic and restart the PC.