Outlook 2013 IMAP to Gmail failing

[Bill Marshall]

I have a new machine running Windows 8.1 with Office 2013 installed. I have tried repeatedly to set up Outlook without success, and used Best Buys “Geek Squad” to try to do the same with out success. The problem seems to be that the Gmail servers don’t recognize the IMAP attempt. The error message is to contact my Internet Service Provider which is Verizon (FIOS), but they have no solution either. All other aspects of the wireless communication from the machine to the router work perfectly: wireless printing, computer connection to internet, and several phones and tablets are connected and working correctly.

On another (older) machine I am running Windows EX and Outlook 2003 with an IMAP link to the same Gmail account with a wired connection. It works perfectly.

Any suggestions to resolve this would be appreciated.

Bill

 

[Bill Marshall]

After posting this query, I continued searching for an answer to the problem. Using IMAP with Google e-mail (and others I suppose) needs special handling if you use 2-step authentication for new accesses to your e-mail. Google provides a 16 digit specific use pass-code which is what is needed if you use the 2 step authentication process. Once I obtained that password, the IMAP process proceeded smoothly--which is what I had expected in the morning when I started it.
See https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/180744?hl=en for instructions on generating an outlook specific password.

There is no mention of this in the many instructions around, and I don't take credit for discovering it. I picked it up deep in a thread about this kind of problem in another forum. I hope this saves many others the frustration I went through.

Bill

 

[Forum Admin]

Right, 2 step auth requires using an app password, not your real password. Not too many sites support 2 step authorization and even fewer require it - but most mail clients need the app password since they can't bring up the authorization screen and have no way to tell you that you might need an app password.

I think the reason you don't see much about it is that not a lot of people use it, and it's hard to troubleshoot unless you think to ask. I probably would not have asked about it based on your first post - i would have asked about firewalls and security software.

http://www.outlook-tips.net/tips/tip-1090-twofactor-authentication-outlook/