I received an email stating Update your sign-in technology before September 16th, 2024 to maintain email access. Is this legit or a scam?

So you are saying I won’t be able to login to my email account using my email and password?? This is very stressful!! Please please can Microsoft set up a phone line to just talk to someone! I do not understand the instructions that are being given as I don’t know where to find out if I have pop or imap and I cannot lose access to my emails- please Microsoft help!

I can’t be the only one struggling to still understand despite these links :-(

Thanks, Keith. Your help and perspective is appreciated!

I don't know. Here are annotated instructions:

If you use Outlook for Windows: 

Outlook supports Modern Authentication in all current Microsoft 365 subscription SKUs and Outlook 2021 LTSC (any SKU with build 11601.10000 or higher) when connecting directly as Outlook.com. If your Outlook is configured to connect to Outlook.com using POP or IMAP, Modern Authentication is not supported. This means that when Basic Authentication is fully deprecated, it will no longer connect.  For this scenario, you have a few options:

Option 1: Get a newer Outlook email app which supports Modern Authentication (Annotation: in other words, don't use even the latest desktop version of Outlook from Microsoft 365 to access an Outlook.com account. Great solution!)

If your Outlook client does not support Modern Authentication, you will need to upgrade to the latest version and then setup using Outlook.com Sync. You can either purchase a new Outlook License, use the Outlook that is included in your Microsoft 365 subscription (<-- I do) , or download Outlook for Windows for free.  

Option 2: Switch to Outlook.com/Exchange Syncing

Instead of using POP/IMAP and SMTP, create a new Outlook Desktop profile (Annotation: the only other offered bad solution is to create a new profile) and then add your Outlook.com account using automatic account configuration, which will add the account with Modern Authentication. To do this, please use the following guidance:

1. Create a new Outlook Desktop profile. For more information, please go to Create an Outlook profile.
2. Add your Outlook.com account. For more information, please go to Add an email account to Outlook.

(Last Annotation: If this is true, Microsoft is forcing use of OAuth2.0, but its desktop app can only handle that in a separate profile. No other email provider I use behaves that way. Microsoft provides no means for a form of authorization that is compatible with IMAP or POP3. That renders use of Microsoft Outlook.com accounts in its flagship desktop Outlook email program far more difficult than other email accounts.)

Jaw dropping. But I may well be missing something!

I didn't read prior references to require that a "new" Outlook profile be created but saw

that access can be accomplished for third party email clients through app permissions

and settings that are possible to make in the Outlook account that agree with settings

selected in the email client app. There are different options and alternatives described

and the way I understood is that creating a new outlook profile was just one option

in a list of different methods, one way among several different options. It may be that

there is more than one way to skin a cat and the same effect is accomplished by the

settings changes and permissions being done manually, as would be automatically

done by the use of alternative methods where the same settings changes are made

for example when a new account is being set up automatically by a new account

helper bot.

As I posted before it does matter what server and port settings you choose to

update login to use OAuth2 and for POP you should use for incoming mail server

outlook.office365.com and port 995. Also make sure your app permissions are

set in the outlook web portal for your outlook account Mail settings to allow

the POP access by the third party client. You will likely get a password challenge

to allow the change to be effected, a Microsoft account password request popup

may appear. Send yourself a test message from another email like gmail and see

if the incoming mail server is responding normally and showing your incoming

test message as it should using the updated authentication login OAuth2.

I use PC-based "old" Outlook from Microsoft 365 with a dozen POP3 email addresses draining into one Inbox. (POP3 is the only way to avoid a dozen inboxes that must be viewed separately, unlike the aggregation available on any phone.)

The Microsoft instructions referenced in the previous post indicate that a new Outlook Profile needs to be created to receive an email from Outlook.com. It apparently must be separate from my other 11 POP3 accounts. Is that true?

I'm thinking it is, because I deleted my POP3 Outlook.com account and tried to add it back as an "Outlook" account. It became an Exchange account and badly corrupted my profile. It wouldn't connect to the exchange server, and opening Outlook produced a variety of horrible error messages in succession. And, of course, it demanded a separate data file.

The only way I could recover was to do a System Restore, which caused its own problems. Three hours later, I think I'm back to where I used to be.

So ... is it possible to do this without a separate profile in Outlook?

Thanks!