Issue
How do I fix my Penn State Email Account in Thunderbird when I receive a note about Microsoft Basic Authentication?
Resolution
- In the upper right-hand corner of Thunderbird, click on the hamburger icon to access the Account Settings
- Click on Account Settings
- Next, on the left-hand side, click on Server Settings
- Switch your current Thunderbird Server Settings to the following configuration:
- Server Type: IMAP
- Server Name: outlook.office365.com
- Port: 993
- User Name: Your full PSU Email address > Format Example: xyz123@psu.edu
- Connection security: SSL/TLS
- Authentication method: OAuth2
- Note: The OAuth2 option is not available if you have the user name listed in the format xyz123 instead of xyz123@psu.edu
- Go back to the left-hand side, and this time click on Outgoing Server (SMTP)
- Select the Outgoing Server Settings for your PSU Email account and then click on the Edit button
- Switch your current Thunderbird Outgoing Server Settings to the following configuration:
- Description: Penn State Outgoing Email
- Server Name: smtp.office365.com
- Port: 587
- Connection security: STARTTLS
- Authentication method: OAuth2
- User Name: Your full PSU Email address > Format Example: xyz123@psu.edu
- Note: The OAuth2 option is not available if you have the user name listed in the format xyz123 instead of xyz123@psu.edu
- Click the OK button to save your Outgoing Server Settings
- Close the Account Settings tab and go back to your PSU Email Inbox in Thunderbird
- Send a test email from your Thunderbird email client, to confirm your newly configured settings are working
Additional information: You may have local folders created in your Thunderbird email client. We do not recommend deleting your PSU account from Thunderbird to fix the basic authentication issue. Deleting your account may cause you to lose access to these locally created folders.