Outlook 2016 doesn't accept password or app password

I too have been struggling with this mess since MS created it. Unable to use EAS to sync contacts and calendar for my legacy Hotmail account to my Thunderbird 102 build with TBsync. Other accounts connect using Oauth2 without issue, but the Hotmail account would not accept app passwords or regular password.

I've tried a variety of server options including "eas.outlook.com" and "m.hotmail.com." Both have worked in the past before MS f***ed us in late January.

Today, I tried "m.outlook.com" as a server...and it worked. Or I should say, it's not yet been throwing password prompts. I can't advise on ports as TBsync doesn't provide for that setting. But give m.outlook.com a try and see if you have the same success as I have. And please let me know.

P.S. I'm using an app password to connect this account.

I switched to Mozilla Thunderbird. Works fine. Don't abuse system resources. Works with all accounts together. On my MS Office 2013/2016 i backed up outlook files just in case and removed outlook altogether. There is no point in having it. Rest of Office working fine. Security with external links and attachments is there. It all cool. But so far having 3d party mail client is way better solution. In the end none of the MS Office outlooks worked with Microsoft e-mail accounts for about a month. Web interface is not optimal and forcing you to open spam mail in order to move it to spam folder.

As I've pointed out several times, I've added the account with auto-discovery. I did try other methods, like EAS, but it was firstly tried with auto-discovery which had this issue. Your insistence also brings out more questions- are you saying EAS for consumer accounts is not supported with latest Outlook, even with OAuth support? You should know that the add account function entry screen is for auto-discovery and one has to override it to get to manual setup, so several of my attempts were done by auto-discovery for the simple fact of exploring what works.

As far as IMAP/SMTP and other protocol proxies build into the "New Outlook," accessing, downloading, storing/caching, aggregating non-Microsoft 3rd-party platform data is concerned, most folks would not take assurance from Microsoft representatives of these facts at face value. You, as an employee/representative, are subjective to misunderstanding/miscommunication/misinterpretation of details like most human would in these circumstances. Case in point, just a matter of days ago, you shared information to use regkey to add OAuth support for older Outlooks but only to later reverse that recommendation. My privacy concern is less about someone can hack into the Microsoft account or not. It is more about Microsoft having access to my other data which you would not have otherwise. Outlook and Mail apps are doing that fine right now without using cloud proxies, so it's difficult to understand the justification. In addition, the updated terms and conditions indicate Microsoft would make use of that data, which makes your stance contradictive. The "New Outlook" is new and so is its proxy approach. Regulatory scrutiny doesn't usually come at the onset because lack of data and impact. EU's regulation on data access, retention and utilization are strict, so I rather hear their assessment instead of Microsoft directly. According to several studies, security researchers found 3rd-party account credential given to "New Outlook" was stored and transmitted in plain test. If these other platform operates similar to Microsoft, that credential is the key to the user's entire account. Needless to stay, consumers have the right to be doubtful or critical of these privacy concerns.

On my M365 Outlook, which is on my work system, I added my Hotmail account just to see if it worked better. It was added via both methods of auto discovery and manually creating it as EAS and I was still getting the prompts in both cases. The connection status showed my work account under "Bearer*" and Hotmail under "Clear*". The prompt was so frequent and as I mentioned in another comment, it would take away the cursor/pointer focus suddenly, resulted in my workflow being constantly disrupted, so I removed the account to gain back my productivity. I did add it back a few times to see if things progressed differently, but was still getting the prompt.

I also spoke to our IT folks (pretty friendly with them), and they have no desire to work on my personal account issue as they are knee deep in other MS related issues such as problems from the recent Patch Tuesday rounds.

Just to be clear, my Hotmail issue was never with IMAP or POP3. I do not use those protocols with Hotmail. I always set the account as Exchange/EAS or Outlook.com. To be frank, I've noticed Outlook.com account type to be slower. Exchange type on desktop and EAS on mobile were the gold standard for fast and accurate sync and it was the case up until 1/23/2024. I do use POP3 for non-Microsoft mail and it has been fine during this period. POP3 and offline PST is an important consideration for me.

Also, I pored through your peers' postings on "New Outlook", including people claiming they are product manager for Outlook. What was said is that POP3 and PST are in the plan. However, no firm date and comment that address the elephant in the room, of using Microsoft cloud as proxy to access and store non-Microsoft 3rd-party data. I honestly don't know how POP3/PST and proxy architecture means for each other and its scary to even think about this. Is Microsoft cloud will suck up the entire PST during its processing for import in the future and POP3 will also morph into a proxy architecture? None of this is clear enough... But I will leave it to regulators in EU to address that issue with Microsoft.

Hi all,

The Outlook Team has updated the guidance about this issue, Outlook and other apps are unable to connect to Outlook.com when using Basic authentication - Microsoft Support.

A key take away is that everyone needs to work towards being on apps that support OAuth for Outlook.com. If you are using Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2016 an immediately available free option is to install the New Outlook, Outlook for Windows - Microsoft Apps. We will continue to update the guidance with learnings and status updates as we go.

So office 2016 will not be updates to use OAuth?

Then can you tell me where the VB editor is in outlook for windows as i would need to import those for that app to be of use.

$600 for Office 2021, just for Outlook is beyond my budget, I'd have to buy that myself not to mention office 2021 and 365 users have this issue as well
so seems it would be a poor way to spend the money.

So if you could just tell me how to import VBA into your new outlook app?