Does Microsoft Outlook keep asking for your password for your Comcast / Xfinity email account… even though you KNOW you are entering the correct password, and you KNOW you have the Comcast IMAP/SMTP and SSL settings correct?
No matter what you try, Outlook keeps displaying a window like this:
The first thing to do is make absolutely certain the password you are trying is correct. It’s easy to develop a false sense of confidence about this. Nothing beats trying to make sure. So go to the Comcast / Xfinity web mail page and login to make sure you really are using the right password.
Once you have logged in, go ahead and check your email on the website. The page you are on should look something like this:
Now, look for “Third Party Access Security” and make sure the check box next to “Allow access…” is checked.
This box MUST be checked for programs like Microsoft Outlook to be able to interact with your email.
Comcast rolled this out as a security upgrade to their email. But unfortunately, the feature is turned off by default for most users… and they didn’t do a great job notifying their customers about the change. As a result, many Comcast customers who have only been accessing their email through Microsoft Outlook woke up one day to find Outlook not working, and making them think their password was the problem.
Instead, Outlook simply sees that it cannot connect to Comcast’s mail server anymore and doesn’t know why. For many people, this simple but elusive setting is the reason – and the fix.
Do you have a different problem related to your Comcast email? Tell us about it in the comments below.
I have allow third party access checked and I still keep getting the password pop up. I know the password is correct as it works on my Iphone and when I logon to xfinity and view mail. This started a week ago and I can’t seem to get it fixed.
Hi Tom, I have one client who has the exact same issue which cropped up in the past week. His email works on his iPhone but stopped working in Outlook. Stranger still, when I connect to his email in Outlook on a different computer, it connects fine. But no amount of reconnecting – even with a new Outlook profile – will work on his computer. I’ve still not pinned down the exact cause, but it appears to be something to do with a problem in his Windows user profile. Very annoying. I’ll post back here if/when I discover more.
I have had the same issue for at least a week or two. I have tried everything that I can think of… If you have an answer, please advise. Many thanks!
I have the same exact problem. I stopped receiving e-mails in Outlook on 12-19-22. Strangely, on that same day I got an e-mail at my alternate Gmail account from Comcast saying I needed to change my password as they suspected a security breach. When I went to do this, I could not sign in. I also saw that a completely different e-mail address had been entered as my alternate. Obviously, I had been hacked. After jumping through some hoops, I managed to change my Comcast password. I can now receive e-mails through Xfinity Connect, but nothing in Outlook. I even set automatic forwarding to my Comcast address, but nothing is coming through Outlook.
I’ve had this problem for some time now. I’ve tried everything I’ve read about to try to fix it. I sure hope someone comes up with the fix because it sure is frustrating.