When using Mail for accessing your e-mail, you might run into a problem where Mail repeatedly asks for your password, either when you are checking for new messages (such as when opening Mail for the first time), or when attempting to send messages.

This can be frustrating to deal with if it happens, but if it does there are several things you can do to fix the situation.

(I'm on El Capitan, the Keychain Access is Version 9.0 (55171.20.2)) Related discussions, but none of them helped: OSX is repeatedly asking for login keychain password; Mac asking for multiple 'login' keychain app passwords but won't accept them; How to stop my machine asking for multiple passwords when I log in? Sep 10, 2015  Activity Monitor Apple Apple Watch App Store battery Disk Utility Dock e-mail El Capitan encryption FileVault Finder Hard Drive hotkey iCloud iOS iOS 8 iPad iPhone iTunes keyboard Keychain Mac Macbook Pro Mail malware Messages Network OS X OS X 10.10 OS X 10.11 password Permissions preview Safari Security Sleep software update Spotlight. If so, you are not alone. Many folks also report that Mail keeps crashing on macOS High Sierra Apple on startup. MacOS High Sierra has been out for quite some time now. Unfortunately, a few of our readers report that their Mail keeps crashing on macOS High Sierra after their initial upgrade and even on subsequent minor High Sierra macOS updates.

Toggle your internet off and on

Use this menu to disable Wi-Fi, and then re-enable it.

Often Mail prompting for a password is from its inability to properly connect to your service provider. This can happen if you have lost your connection in the midst of communicating, so try toggling your Wi-Fi or other network connections off and then back on, to see if this helps the situation.

Wait a short while

It may be instinctive to try entering your password repeatedly in the authentication window that pops up, followed by clicking the “Get Mail” button to ensure it takes; however, while worth one try, if the password box pops up again, then this approach is likely a waste of time. Sometimes odd problems with mail account servers can prevent authentication for a short while, so if this happens, consider waiting about 10-15 minutes before trying again.

Quit and relaunch Mail

In addition to waiting, quit and relaunch Mail to see if the problem is simply a temporary fault with how Mail’s configuration has loaded.

Ensure the password is correct

While passwords should be stored in your Mac’s keychain, if you have entered the password again and then re-saved it in your keychain, then you might have simply entered it incorrectly. Therefore, try again and ensure you have put in the right password.

Open the Keychain Access utility, and search for the affected e-mail account (username and domain) to locate any keychain entries used for accessing this service. Select any relevant ones (especially if there are duplicates), and delete them from your keychain. Following this, go back to Mail and supply your password when prompted, and choose the option to save the password.

In addition to using the Mail password prompts, you can manually enter passwords in Mail’s settings. This may be especially pertinent if the password prompt is only happening when you try to send mail, or when you try to receive mail:

1. Enter your passwords in Mail’s preferences for the SMTP server as well as for your incoming servers.

   Go to Mail’s preferences and click “Accounts” (not the Accounts option in the Mail menu)

2. Select the affected account in the list to the left
3. In the Account Information tab, update your password in the “Password” field
4. In the Outgoing Mail Server (SMTL) menu, choose “Edit SMTP Server List…”
5. Select the SMTP server you use with this account
6. Click the Advanced tab
7. Again re-type your password, followed by clicking OK to save

In addition to updating your password, ensure your outgoing server’s port number and SSL options are set appropriately, according to the configuration requirements for your mail service. You might need to search on the Web or otherwise with your service provider to see what these settings are. Lastly, try toggling the box to automatically detect and maintain account settings, to see if this setting may be causing the problem.

If you see any errors when verifying your keychain, then run the repair routine to fix them.

Repair keychains

If re-entering passwords does not seem to fix the issue, then try repairing your login keychain. To do this, open Keychain Access and select your keychain, followed by choosing Keychain First Aid in the Keychain Access menu (or press Option-Command-A). In the window that pops up, click Start to verify, and if you see any problems pop up (especially if they are related to your mail account passwords), then click the Repair radio button and again click Start. Following this, you might need to re-supply your password again to save it.

If your Mac is connected to the Internet but suddenly starts asking for your password, you should generally try again later, and if necessary work with your email provider to resolve. If you're using Apple's iCloud Mail, learn how to resolve issues with iCloud Mail.

Why is Mail asking for your password?

Mail asks for your password when it is connecting to your email provider, but can't connect to your email account because your email provider isn't accepting your email password.

Mac Mail Keeps Asking For Password El Capitan Free

Your email provider may reject your password for several reasons, including:

• You're not using your current email password. If you updated the password on another device, make sure that you're using the same password on your Mac.
• Your email provider needs you to update or reset your password for security reasons. For example, if you're using Google’s two-step verification, your Gmail account in Mail requires the appropriate app-specific password.
• Your email provider deactivated or suspended your account. Contact your email provider for help.
  

Check your password in Internet Accounts preferences

Depending on the type of email account you're using, you might be able to correct the password as follows:

1. Quit Mail. If it doesn't quit, you can force it to quit.
2. Choose Apple menu  > System Preferences, then click Internet Accounts.
3. Select your mail account in the sidebar.
4. If you see a password field for your account, delete the password and type the correct password.
   
5. Close System Preferences, then open Mail and try using your account again.

If Mail still asks for your password, the password is probably incorrect. Your email provider can help you verify your email settings and make sure that you're using the correct password.

Test using webmail

Mail Keeps Asking For Password On Mac

Many email providers offer webmail, which is a way to use email with a web browser such as Safari, instead of with an email app such as Mail. For example, if you're using an iCloud Mail account, you can use iCloud.com to send and receive email.

Because the password that you use with Mail is usually the same password that you use with webmail, try signing in to webmail with that password. If it doesn't work there either, your password is probably incorrect. Your email provider can help you verify your email settings and make sure that you're using the correct password for the Mail app.

Remove your account, then add it back

If no other solutions work, try setting up your email account again. To do that, first remove your email account, then add the account back.

Learn more

Mac Mail Keep Asking For Password

• If you're using Apple's iCloud Mail, learn how to resolve issues with iCloud Mail. The password that you use with iCloud Mail is your Apple ID password. Learn what to do if you forgot your Apple ID password or want to change your Apple ID password.
• If you forgot or want to change the email password for a different email service, contact the email provider or request a password reset from their website.