Solving Gmail Password Rejection in Mail.app

A lot of you who rely on Apple Mail are familiar with the oh-so-irritating dialog box that pops up asking for your password. I’ve got some suggestions for you to help make this problem go the way of the dodo.

Most of the time, entering the correct one and checking the “Remember this password in my keychain” box is sufficient to dismiss that ugly bugger for good. Another solution that may work is deleting the entries for that e-mail account in your keychain and then re-entering the password when Mail asks for it (hopefully for the last time). 

Enter Your PasswordLook familiar? You’re not alone.

 

But what if that box just keeps on popping up over and over and OVER, even though you know you’ve entered your password correctly? If you’re using a Gmail account, it’s possible that Google’s mail servers have flagged your account as suspicious and you need to reset your CAPTCHA. This can happen if, for example, you have several devices checking for e-mail all at the same time or if you have one device that is set to check too often.

To prove you’re human to the Google gods, go to the unlock CAPTCHA page and fill out the form. If you’re a Google Apps user, you have the same option, but your link is https://www.google.com/a/yourdomain.com/UnlockCaptcha (obviously, you’ll want to replace “yourdomain.com” with, well, your actual domain).

I hope that helps, and that you’re able to banish this particular Mail bane.