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User profile for user: lexjoe
lexjoe Author
User level: Level 1
1 points

Mac Mail won't allow me to add a Comcast account

Up until a few days ago, my Comcast account was working fine on my Mac. My Mac is running El Capitan 10.11.6. A couple of days before I started seeing email issues, I also had problems with web access in general, and through the diagnostics determined the DNS settings were wrong. Maybe this was due to something at Comcast, maybe not, but it seems suspicious given I'm now having issues with email.


Starting a few days ago I started seeing intermittent problems where I'd get the little triangle with an exclamation point in it in the Mail tool. Sometimes it would ask me to re-enter my password, and that generally worked. This morning I was still seeing issues so decided to delete my Comcast account from the Mail app, and then try to add it back in. And that's where I'm stuck. When I put in the email address and password (which I'm 100% certain I'm entering correctly), I get a message that says "Unable to verify account name or password". There is no option at this stage to enter any account settings other than IMAP vs POP (I'm using IMAP) and Incoming and Outgoing servers, which are set to imap.comcast.net and smtp.comcast.net.


Some additional notes... I'm able to access the Comcast web email without issue, and I can also access email from both my iPhone and my Mac laptop (also using Mail). It may be worth noting that my laptop is setup to have this account as POP and not IMAP, but it's been set that way for years with no issues.


Any thoughts as to what's going on here?

Posted on May 24, 2022 10:08 AM

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User profile for user: LeleN1
LeleN1
User level: Community Specialist

May 25, 2022 8:52 AM in response to lexjoe

Hi lexjoe,


Thanks for posting in Apple Support Communities! Since there seems to be something stopping you from adding the account, try starting up in safe mode then attempt to add it again. Here's how to start in safe mode:


  1. "Turn on or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key as your Mac starts up.
  2. Release the key when you see the login window, then log in to your Mac. 
  3. You might be asked to log in again. On either the first or second login window, you should see ”Safe Boot” in the upper-right corner of the window."


Safe mode will disable certain things from starting up, which could possibly be prohibiting you from signing in. You can find these steps and more about safe mode here: How to use safe mode on your Mac.

You can also find some additional steps to take in that article whether the issue continues in safe mode or not.


To test the connection of Mail with your system, follow these steps: Use Connection Doctor in Mail on Mac.


Hope that helps!


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Mac Mail won't allow me to add a Comcast account

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