Modify: Add information on how to Switch Outlook/Hotmail accounts from `Normal password` to `OAuth2` in the KB article on Microsoft OAuth

[monica-thunderbird]

MS official site, Press and other 3rd party links

• support.mozilla.com Outlook and other apps are unable to connect to Outlook.com
• How To Geek: Thunderbird Has a Problem With Outlook, Hotmail, and Live Email Addresses - The problem stems from changes to Microsoft's authentication systems.

Description of the problem and solutions

• See also question SUMO Question 1437606: Thunderbird conflict with Hotmail

• In this KB article (https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/microsoft-oauth-authentication-and-thunderbird-202) there is no clear description of how to switch the password method from Normal password to OAuth2 in Thunderbird. There is a screencap is this SUMO article of someone who successfully did this, also copied below, (https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1417298#answer-1588949) which it would likely be helpful to replicate. I think this, along with an updated date of January 2024, would help users with this issue.

• [x] On the Hotmail/Outlook side: 2 step verification must be on. See MS KB Article: How to use two-step verification with your Microsoft account

• [x] Cookies must be set to ON in Thunderbird default browser e.g. Firefox or Chrome

• [x] On the TB side: Thunderbird account settings for the outlook.com/hotmail account IMAP must be set to OAuth2 AND not Password

• [x] On the TB side: you may have to change SMTP to OAuth2 and use an application specific password as well: See Microsoft KB article: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/using-app-passwords-with-apps-that-don-t-support-two-step-verification-5896ed9b-4263-e681-128a-a6f2979a7944 <-- update looks like all you have to do is change it to OAuth2 for both SMTP and IMAP

• [x] add screenshots

• [x] add an SMTP screenshot

• [x] add a note re: hat due to MS's "diversity" :-) of servers and deployments that there is no definitive solution/workaround and that TB could be broken again by MS at any time at any server in the field due to A/B testing and other stuff

• [x] add TOC

• [x] fix formatting to make it simpler

[rtanglao]

WIP: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/microsoft-oauth-authentication-and-thunderbird-202/revision/275237

[rtanglao]

• as suggested by @plwt , changing to "As of January 2024". Thanks Paul! <-- done in https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/microsoft-oauth-authentication-and-thunderbird-202/revision/275438

[rtanglao]

• added screenshots: see https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/microsoft-oauth-authentication-and-thunderbird-202/revision/275440

[rtanglao]

tl;dr not sure we can fix this. It seems like an MS issue not a Thunderbird issue. Willing as always to be proven wrong :-) !

• The howtogeek story is not 100% correct at least in my experience. You don't need an App password. i tested it as follows

1. In the web interface at outlook.com i created a new hotmail account, let's call it newhm@hotmail.com
2. i added newhm@hotmail.com
3. I set 2FA on with an email account (my gmail account as the second factor)
4. i added newhm@hotmail.com to TB
5. i couldn't send or receive email with newhm
6. i changed IMAP and SMTP to OAuth2 (TB autoconfig set it to Normal password
7. i tried to send and receive email with newhm and it worked (in the process firefox opened to the MS site and prompted me for the password, i entered my newhm password and also the 2FA code from gmail)

hooray for microsoft lack of clarity :-) (i tested on Windows 11, Ubuntu and macOS all with the same results)

• Re: Mozilla is working to resolve the problem. Presumably, Thunderbird needs a new OAuth setup with advanced MFA support. In the meantime, Thunderbird users must go down a circuitous route to receive emails from their Outlook, Hotmail, and Live inboxes. The steps are outlined in a [Mozilla support post](https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/microsoft-oauth-authentication-and-thunderbird-202) and in several [Reddit threads](https://www.reddit.com/r/Thunderbird/comments/19fevs6/finally_found_the_fix_for_this_msft_email_issue/), but we'll give you the gist of it here. <-- I respectfullly disagree. I don't think we need to fix anything in Thunderbird nor do users need to generate an App Password but I could be wrong.
• Re: Unfortunately, this story is accompanied by an additional problem. Several email clients, including Thunderbird and the official Outlook app, cannot maintain a connection with Microsoft's email services. Logging in with an App Password works, but the account randomly disconnects. Microsoft is [investigating](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/outlook-and-other-apps-are-unable-to-connect-to-outlook-com-f4202ebf-89c6-4a8a-bec3-3d60cf7deaef) the issue and explicitly mentions Thunderbird in its support post. <-- I cannot reproduce this. Logging in with the outlook.com password, i.e. not the App Password works and I have had no issues with random disconnects in Thunderbird in my testing

[monica-thunderbird]

Would it also help to add that users may need to enable cookies in Thunderbird settings to be sure that these changes persist, since there is a strong non-zero probability that a fair number of users do not have cookies enabled? a graphic to show the setting enabled might be helpful as well.

[rtanglao]

Would it also help to add that users may need to enable cookies in Thunderbird settings to be sure that these changes persist, since there is a strong non-zero probability that a fair number of users do not have cookies enabled? a graphic to show the setting enabled might be helpful as well.

• I added this to the checklist in comment 0: Cookies must be set to ON in default browser e.g. Firefox or Chrome. Please let me know if I am missing any nuances here @monica-thunderbird !

[rtanglao]

The following were fixed in revision 275525

• On the Hotmail/Outlook side: 2 step verification must be on. See MS KB Article: How to use two-step verification with your Microsoft account
• Cookies must be set to ON in default browser e.g. Firefox or Chrome
• add an SMTP screenshot
• add a note re: hat due to MS's "diversity" :-) of servers and deployments that there is no definitive solution/workaround and that TB could be broken again by MS at any time at any server in the field due to A/B testing and other stuff
• add TOC
• fix formatting to make it simpler

[rtanglao]

• @wsmwk @dannycolin could you or any other veteran contributor please proofread https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/microsoft-oauth-authentication-and-thunderbird-202/revision/275525 if good to go, set it to Ready for Localization. If not please create another revision or leave a comment here or on Matrix.

[rtanglao]

• Changed {note} to {warning} and fixed some typos https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/microsoft-oauth-authentication-and-thunderbird-202/revision/275603

[rtanglao]

• Had it wrong, cookies have to be on in Thunderbird NOT the default browser. Fixed in https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/microsoft-oauth-authentication-and-thunderbird-202/revision/275611

[rtanglao]

• @Mozinet-fr added a revision 275730 so closing! Thanks M!

[rtanglao]

@christ1 also helped! thanks, closing for real this time!