When configuring your Gmail account on other mail clients such as Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird, and Mail apps on (older) smartphones or PC, you might run into continuous password prompts or sync errors.
This usually happens because google has by default turned off basic authentication for new and old accounts which haven’t synced with your Gmail account for the last 30 days and only lets you authenticate via the OAuth 2.0 standard.
As a result of basic authentication being turned off in google Gmail settings, you’ll receive continuous pop-ups asking you to enter password and email details even when they are correct.
These are some of the Mail Apps that do not support google latest security standards.
- Some Desktop mail clients like Microsoft Outlook and Mozilla Thunderbird
- The Mail app on your iPhone or iPad with version 6 or below
- The Mail app on your Windows phone preceding the 8.1 release
Google blocks these apps because they don’t meet its security standards. Trying to sign in to Gmail account from these apps will return a “Password incorrect” error even when the passwords or emails are correct.
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Enable Basic Authentication
To solve this problem you’ll need to re-enable basic authentication in your Gmail security settings, follow the steps below.
Enable less secure apps
Step 1: Go to the Less secure apps section of your Google Account.
Step 2: Turn on Allow less secure apps. If you don’t see this setting, your administrator might have turned off less secure app account access.
Enable 2-Step Verification
Besides enabling less secure apps, you can also enable 2-step verification and it will help you solve the ” Password incorrect ” error next time you login in from insecure apps.
2-Step verification allows you to create a second password that you can use to login into a Gmail account from insecure apps rather than the original Gmail account password.
Follow the procedures below to set up 2-Step verification Gmail:-
Step 1: Log in to your Gmail account and visit my account page.
Step 2: Click on Sign-in & security.
Step 3: Under the Password & sign-in method, click on 2-step verification.
Step 4: On the 2 step verification introduction page, click Get Started button at the bottom to continue.
Step 5: To continue to verify it’s your account by entering your password and clicking next.
Step 6: After verification of account ownership, enter your phone number and click Next. The phone number will be used to receive the verification code, so ensure it’s correct.
Step 7: Confirm that you received the verification code by entering it in the space below and clicking Next.
Step 8: In the last step, Turn on 2 step verification.
How to enable App-specific password in Gmail
After enabling 2-step verification, Gmail will be asking for second-step verification every time you sign in. However to get an app-specific password for other mail apps or software follow the procedures below:-
Step 1 : Navigate to Sign-in & security > Password & sign-in method and click App passwords .
Step 2: Confirm verification and you’ll be taken to the App passwords page.
Step 3: Select the app and device you want to generate the app password for & click Generate.
Step 4: A window will pop up with a login password for your third-party app. Copy the obtained password code and follow the instruction below.
Note that the app password doesn’t actually contain spaces, the separators between the code blocks are just to improve readability.
Once you’ve updated your password, Your third-party app will be able to connect to Gmail again with 2-Step Verification enabled for your account.
How to Get Gmail codes via a mobile app instead
You might also want to use an App to generate verification codes rather than using SMS messages. Follow the steps below to achieve this :-
- Under Authenticator app, click setup
2. A window will pop up, select the kind of phone you have, and click Next.
3. Now Download & Install the Google Authenticator app on your phone.
If you are using a Windows Phone, download and install the Authenticator app by Microsoft instead.
4. Open the app and when adding the account, use the camera of your phone to scan the barcode and add the account without needing to type anything.
5. On the web page, enter the generated verification code on your phone to complete the app configuration process.