Is Gmail Rejecting Your POP Password? You’re Not Crazy and You’re Not Alone  
by Anne P. Mitchell, Esq. - 18 Comments, Last updated 04/26/2012

Summary: If you retrieve your email via POP from Gmail, you may on occasion find that Gmail completely rejects your password. Now, having Gmail rejecting your POP password can be very disconcerting, not to mention frustrating! Your mail client keeps prompting you for your Gmail password, you keep entering the password that you know is the right password, and Gmail keeps rejecting it. It's enough to drive you crazy.
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If you retrieve your email via POP from Gmail, you may on occasion find that Gmail completely rejects your password. Now, having Gmail rejecting your POP password can be very disconcerting, not to mention frustrating! Your mail client keeps prompting you for your Gmail password, you keep entering the password that you know is the right password, and Gmail keeps rejecting it.

It’s enough to drive you crazy.

But don’t let it, because you’re not crazy, and it’s not you - it’s Gmail. And you can prove it to yourself by logging in to your Gmail account via the web, using the same password that you know is your correct password - the very same password that Gmail keeps rejecting in your efforts to POP your mail.

Nobody seems to know why this happens. And, unfortunately, nobody seems to know how to fix it, other than to just wait.

Some people have said that they have had success closing down their mail program, and re-opening it. Others have said that rebooting their machine has helped. These things are worth trying but if they don’t work, just know that this too shall pass, and all you can do is wait it out.

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Previous Article « Is Your ISP Interfering with Your Downloading and Bandwith Use? Ask Switzerland and the EFF
Read Next Article » 40 Million U.S. Credit Card and Debit Card Numbers Stolen by War Driving Identity Theft Ring

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18 Comments - Newest First »

  1. Thank you Ian. Your suggestion worked like a dream, after a day of frustrations trying to get this to work!

    Comment by Ele — 4/26/2012 @ 4:00 pm

  2. Worked wonders for me!
    This is easier than messing with keychain

    Try deleting the apple mail plist file in library preferences and restarting Mail
    (Just move the file to desktop in case you want it back)
    Restarting Mail will create the new file for you

    Please post if it works for you

    Comment by seth — 4/20/2012 @ 6:23 am

  3. Thank you IAN! that was awesome! You are my savior - I worked for over 2 hours trying to get this to work.

    Comment by Steve K — 4/18/2012 @ 6:13 am

  4. https://accounts.google.com/DisplayUnlockCaptcha worked for me too !

    Comment by Pompon — 4/5/2012 @ 4:51 am

  5. Ian’s link worked for me, too!

    Comment by loser — 3/26/2012 @ 5:41 pm

  6. Ian’s recommendation worked for me - thanks!

    Comment by Kristen — 2/6/2012 @ 11:01 am

  7. The http://is.gd/2AML also worked for me. Thanks!

    Comment by Ian — 2/5/2012 @ 5:59 pm

  8. go to Gmail.com

    Comment by Bob — 11/29/2011 @ 11:53 am

  9. After trying many suggestions I deleted the email account that I had the problem with and reinstalled it (Outlook 2003) and all worked OK again.

    The problem followed optimizing my disk so am pretty sure that was the cause.

    Hope it’s that simple for you.

    Comment by Vern — 9/18/2011 @ 9:04 am

  10. I tried the link in the thread but it won’t accept my password - I tried all passwords that I’ve used in the last year but none of them work!

    Comment by dave — 8/28/2011 @ 7:11 am

  11. Unfortunately i havent been able to get any mail since Friday on my iPhone and for 2 weeks on my Mac with Outlook. I am getting really pissed off and I’ve changed my password three times today before reading this comment

    Comment by dave — 8/28/2011 @ 7:06 am

  12. Here I am in 2010 with yet another comment. Yes, I have given up on G-Mail. Yes, they have shut me out of - of all things - Thunderbird. Yes, I tried several ways of defeating the problem. No, I have not found a “solution”. No, I may not even bother with the “solution” offered in comment #3 above because, if G-Mail is this hard going in, I’m not interested in facing whatever else they may allow to go wrong for, … let’s see, didn’t you first post this in 2008? Hmmmmm, doesn’t look like Google cares much about their customer base as long as the ads pay for mistakes and schlepp, or is it just me?

    Comment by Ted Bruner — 9/8/2010 @ 10:29 am

  13. The link ” http://is.gd/2AML” worked like a charm!!!! instant, and easy!! thanks to whomever it was that found and posted this!!!!

    Comment by Dug — 8/29/2010 @ 2:44 pm

  14. yep, no idea why, but https://www.google.com/
    accounts/UnlockCaptcha? fixed the problem… very weird but glad its fixed

    Comment by Anonymous — 10/12/2009 @ 4:49 pm

  15. If your addresses are hosted on google apps, go to https://www.google.com/a/your domain].com/UnlockCaptcha

    Ref. http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=14257

    Comment by MP — 5/1/2009 @ 1:07 am

  16. A solution to this problem has been found. simply goto http://is.gd/2AML and unlock your account. It is a genuine work fix which worked for me.

    Comment by badmaash — 11/2/2008 @ 12:32 pm

  17. I can not go to gmail.com anymore. There is no link anymore like that to get to your email. So when I sign into my gogle account, it takes you to a screen to sign up for a gmail account. I already have a gmail account. But can’t find out how to get to it now. So I am sure that I have some messages, but don’t know how to get to them now. This just started a couple of days ago. I was able to go to gmail.com before and your account was there. This is rediculous!!!!!!!!!!!

    Comment by Debbie Sherman — 8/14/2008 @ 8:22 am

  18. They’re not the only ones. ATT/SBC Global have also begun the hob-nailed march across my POP accounts.
    I may be some sort of a dinosaur, but I have started, … and stayed with Juno (UnitedOnLine) since 2001. I did so, first because my daughter suggested it before I got a newer - email ready - computer; secondly, because it was free then; thirdly, because of its POP capabilities; and, last-but-not-least, because it allowed me a hyphen in my email address.
    I now pay $9.95(US) per year for this service. I have never had to change my address, and so many of my friends/contacts have changed so often and with each ISP change, that they’re basically disappearing from the globe, but not me.
    I can POP mail from my old Yahoo.com account, but my “new” SBC Global.net/not ATT account will not allow me to get my mail there. They insist that I use one of their list of “Secure” services, like Eudora. While I’m always grateful that my security is of concern, I do not appreciate that I do not have the choice.

    They have offered to help me get things set up, but all the help so far does not work.

    In this case, I do not plan to stay with ATT forever, and I still use my Juno address, so it’s not a permanent problem, but it’s still not right.

    Comment by Ted Bruner — 8/8/2008 @ 5:36 pm

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