Setting and changing email passwords

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This article was written for Thunderbird but also applies to Mozilla Suite / SeaMonkey (though some menu sequences may differ).

Thunderbird doesn't provide a way for a user to enter the POP/IMAP/SMTP servers password when configuring a account. This frequently confuses new users who expect to be able to do that because they did that with their previous email client. Thunderbird will prompt for a password the first time it needs one. When it does that you can check the checkbox to save the password using the password manager if you want Thunderbird to remember the password.

When you change a password using Thunderbird you're merely changing Thunderbird's copy of the password. It has no effect on the real password. You typically have to use a browser and login to webmail to change the password that the mail server expects.

The only way to change a password saved by the password manager is to delete it, close and restart Thunderbird (because the deleted password was still in memory) , get prompted for the new password the next time it needs it, and then tell it again to save that password. You can delete the password on a Windows installation using Tools → Options → Security → Passwords → View Saved Passwords, selecting the password and then pressing the Remove button.

If you are using Linux that menu path starts with Edit → Preferences. Sometimes the Junk, Email Scams, AntiVirus and Passwords tabs underneath the Security tab may look like words and not a tab, because they're not clearly delineated. [1] For a Mac that menu path starts with Thunderbird → Preferences.

See also

Using a Master Password to protect your saved passwords

Password not remembered

Protect the profiles contents