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2 Messages
Secure Mail Key for att.net email address in Outlook
I have 2 old att.net email addresses that date back to when I had dial-up service. As of yesterday, I could not access that email account through Outlook. I see online that AT&T has changed some security settings so email apps generally have to support Open Authentication (OAuth). Outlook is not one of those apps. It says that to use Outlook you have to create a "Secure Mail Key" which is then used in place of the password used to log into the email account through Outlook. The instructions for obtaining a Secure Mail Key say to login to myAT&T. Under the "Profile", there is supposed to be a dropdown with email addresses. Supposed to be able to scroll to "Secure mail key" and do a bunch of stuff. But I don't see anything in the Profile about any email addresses. HELP PLEASE!!!
_xyzzy_
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15K Messages
6 years ago
Your Profile has a number of boxes. One of them says "Sign-in info". Click that to bring up the sign-in info page with another bunch of boxes. One of those boxes will say "Secure mail key" which has "Manage secure mail keys" under it. Click the "Manage secure mail keys".
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JackParrack
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2 Messages
6 years ago
Unfortunately, when I click on "Sign-in info" all that comes up is AT&A Access ID, Sign-in password, Online security questions and Wireless passcode.
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_xyzzy_
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15K Messages
6 years ago
Wireless passcode? I see no such thing on mine. Look at post 2 in this thread about what I would expect you to see. Also look at post 4 in that same thread. If that isn't the problem solution then I can suggest now is call the 800-288-2020 tech support.
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Gwenzie
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5 Messages
5 years ago
How ridiculous that ATT would stop functioning with Outlook! Not all of us are computer gurus and shouldn't have to jump through hoops to get our email!
It was working fine on my PC, Windows 7, until today, Feb 21. Why did it suddenly stop now?
I have gone through the steps below and I keep getting an error message saying I need to call Tech support. So what good are the instructions!? Just stop changing things. Can you tell I am frustrated!!??!!
Have your User ID and password ready to sign in to myAT&T.
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_xyzzy_
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15K Messages
5 years ago
@Gwenzie - All email servers (no matter who's) don't know or care what email client is accessing them. There's nothing in the protocol for that because it isn't needed. Therefore Outlook is treated no differently than any other client. So whatever "hoops" you are referring to equally applies to all email client apps when configuring them.
The secure mail key, as far as the client is concerned, is just a password. But it's not your actual account password so it adds a extra layer of security to protect your account. It's referred to as an "application password" in other services. Yahoo for example. But it's not required. It's just recommended and also recommended for users with legacy accounts (e.g. sbcglobal.net, pacbell.net, bellsouth.net, etc., i.e., any att domain other than att.net) where they are having problems using their account passwords due to the "great unmerge" (attempt) in the hope that the secure mail key works where their account password doesn't.
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Gwenzie
Tutor
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5 Messages
5 years ago
So, I followed the instructions on this thread and did what I was told to do and now, I THINK I am hearing you say that it only applies to the old accounts, like my bellsouth.net account. But my att.net account should still be working??
Neither of the two accounts are receiving mail in my Outlook as of today. So what is the answer to the problem then? I call this "jumping through hoops" to get my email.
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_xyzzy_
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15K Messages
5 years ago
@Gwenzie
No I said it is a possible fallback to use for legacy accounts for users having problems logging in with their normal password account. There are many threads in these forums with users having login problems since the unmerge and what most (if not all) have in common is that they have legacy accounts. Another suggestion is to change your password in the hope that clears login problems. This applies to users who use the webmail as well since you cannot use the secure mail key for the webmail. But anybody using an email client app can use the secure mail key.
When you have problems getting your email client to log in the first step to see if you can even log into the webmail with your normal password. If you can't log into the webmail there's no sense troubleshooting your client. You account login needs to be straightened out first. If you can log into the webmail then you need to verify your client's server settings with the settings specified here.
You say your client is not receiving mail. So can you send? For example send an email to yourself and see if you receive it. If not check the webmail inbox, spam, and trash, and see if it's there. If it is there and your client can't receive it then I believe your POP/IMAP settings are wrong (whichever you have it set up for). The webmail always mirrors the servers and incoming email will always pass through the server inbox (and hence the webmail inbox). If it's making it to the webmail inbox then the problem lies with your client settings.
Note also sometimes the servers temporarily go down (well at least the yahoo servers apparently do). So if receiving was working and now isn't wait a while and try later.
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-B-S-J-
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2 Messages
5 years ago
Clicking "Sign-in info" brings up a page which contains only 3 boxes: User ID, Sign-in password and Online security questions. There is no Secure mail key box. If that is the only way to obtain a key, I have no way to update my email client's configuration. Any ideas on how to proceed?
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_xyzzy_
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15K Messages
5 years ago
@-B-S-J-
Create a secure mail key
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-B-S-J-
Tutor
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2 Messages
5 years ago
The directions on the Create a secure mail key page say "Select the email account that you want to get a secure mail key for. (You’ll find a drop-down menu at the top if you have multiple accounts.) "
There are no email accounts listed on my Sign-in info page.
There is also no drop-down menu that lists multiple accounts on that page.
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