"Too many simultaneous connections" error with Gmail after SP2 update

Anonymous
2012-04-23T09:00:02+00:00

Ever since updating to SP2, I regularly receive these errors from Outlook:

Mail could not be received at this time.

The server for account "Gmail" returned the error "[ALERT] Too many simultaneous connections. (Failure)." Your username/password or security settings may be incorrect. Would you like to try re-entering your password?

I'm connecting to my Gmail account via IMAP. As you would expect, re-entering my password as suggested by the error doesn't resolve the error and it continues to pop up every 10 seconds until I quit and re-lauch Outlook. I suspect it's something to do with the way this new version of Outlook handles multiple connections to the same IMAP server?

Is anyone else seeing this?

Outlook | MacOS | Legacy Outlook for Mac | For business

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2015-03-13T03:37:03+00:00

from Google

Too many simultaneous connections

If you have multiple users frequently accessing the same account or more than one IMAP client accessing Gmail at the same time, you may reach a connection threshold and receive the error message, 'Too many simultaneous connections.'

Gmail currently has a limit of 15 simultaneous IMAP connections per account.

Please note that your mail client may actually open multiple connections in the background. This means it's possible to reach a connection threshold simply by using only two mail clients to access the same account at the same time.

If you often use multiple mail clients or mobile devices with the same Gmail account, we recommend closing and/or signing out of any mail clients you're not actively using.

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Anonymous
2012-07-12T01:52:12+00:00

Microsoft appears to have released an update that deals with this problem: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2721015

Specifically, MS says that:

<ul><br><li>This update fixes an issue where some users who have IMAP accounts intermittently receive a “Too many simultaneous connections” error. A setting is now available to control the polling interval that Outlook uses with IMAP servers. <br><br><br><br>To adjust this setting, select <b>Tools</b>, select <b>Accounts</b>, and then select <b>Advanced </b>for the IMAP account. The setting defaults to synchronize all lMAP folders every two minutes. </li></ul>

I updated MS Office on both my iMac and MacBook Air, and I didn't change the new default synchronization setting. The iMac only occasionally had this problem, and I cannot tell if the problem has gone away completely yet on that computer.

On my MacBook Air, I had resorted to deleting my Gmail accounts as I could access them via Apple Mail desktop application and I really didn't need Outlook functions with Gmail. I started to add back my Gmail accounts, but I was getting the error message again. I turned off synchronization of IMAP folder while my mail downloaded, and the error message went away. After all my old email was downloaded, I turned IMAP folder synchronization back on (at the default 2 minutes).

It seems to have solved the problem for the most part. If you still get the error message, GMail folders may still be synchronizing, so you might have to keep hitting "No" a while longer until everything is synchronized.

So, with all due respect, it looks like it was a Microsoft problem after all. Fortunately I didn't try that time-consuming, tortuous fix recommended earlier.

I'll post an update on whether this fix has continued to work.

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  1. Anonymous
    2012-06-15T22:54:47+00:00

    Completely agree with you there!

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-06-16T13:32:56+00:00

    I haven't had any direct experience with that, unfortunately, so I'm not able to offer much help. But, I am aware of this Microsoft link that shows how to set up Apple's "Sync Services": http://mac2.microsoft.com/help/office/14/en-us/outlook/item/748ea995-465e-4c40-88d2-7669c7f37a0d to sync iCal's Calendar and Task and also sync Tasks and Notes with Mail.

    I hope this helps answer your question.

    If it does or doesn't work maybe you could post your experience here so others in the same boat can replicate it if it does work? If it doesn't at least folks will know not to waste their time trying. Good luck!

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-06-18T14:57:35+00:00

    Thanks for trying, but no that does not help.  

    And from Anon2828 "The constant spawning of error dialog boxes makes the product unusable."

    AGREE COMPLETELY.

    To DIANEFOREGON:  "We don't see many other users posting here with this issue."

    I am surprised to hear that, as both my 17" MBP and my 27" IMAC have the same problem. And for some reason, my 27" iMac is now constantly spawning error diallog boxes.

    This is one of the worst errors I have found because of that..

    And the issue is, it was not like that before the last update - so what is the difference?  MS should be able to quickly resolve this issue.  And yes, I have reported it.  I was hoping someone here may have found another solution, as it is that troublesome.

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