Can't add ATT mail accounts to Mac mail on MacBook Air and iPhone 5S

Question

Can't add ATT mail accounts to Mac mail on MacBook Air and iPhone 5S

DATE: 9/11/2021

I wanted to post this on ATT Community Forum so everyone can have the answer. After speaking with ATT and Apple customer support for A WEEK STRAIGHT and talking to OVER A DOZEN REPS I finally just came up with the solution myself! Why even have a customer service/tech support department if me - a non-computer whiz - can troubleshoot my issue better than ATT or Apple can?!

The devices:

1. MacBook Air 13-inch 2017 running macOS Mojave Version 10.14.5 (18F132)

2. iPhone 5S model A1533 running iOS 12.5.4

The app being used:

Apple's native Mail app (icon is blue rectangle with white envelope on iPhone, and blue postage stamp featuring bird w/spread wings on Mac)

The problem:

Cannot add either of my ATT email accounts to mail on my new never-before-used Mac, and one account was kicked out on my iPhone due to a password reset and then I couldn't add it back again

The troubleshoot:

1. Tried resetting password. This just kicked me out of one mail account on my iPhone and then I couldn't get back in. So, changing password made the problem worse.

2. Tried deleting the mail account I'd been kicked out of on iPhone and adding it again from scratch, this did not work at all.

3. Tried logging in on browser, this worked just fine. Any browser, any link to ATT, I was able to get in. But this didn't solve my in-app login problem.

4. Tried creating secure mail keys. Mail app did not recognize the security key as a valid password and rejected it.

5. Tried rebooting devices. Same result.

6. Tried creating a test user on my Mac. Same result.

Every single time - if I used my real password, it just said "something went wrong"; or if I used my security key, it said "incorrect login". I spent hours and hours and hours on chat and on the phone with ATT and Apple support, completing the above steps over and over and over and over and over...even though I told each rep I'd already done it, they insisted I do it again. And each new rep I was transferred to (because I spent most of my time being transferred and waiting on hold) refused to review the notes on the account or said they didn't exist, so I had to start from scratch with each person. Out of the over one dozen reps I'd spoken to, I'd talked to two supervisors, and they did the exact same things as the regular reps. After completing the steps above and those not working, they simply transferred me off to the next rep to start all over again...

I asked about manual configuration. And they all said WE DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO THAT. Seriously ATT & Apple? Your reps don't know how to manually configure mail setup? The reps instead wanted me to 1) let them change all of my passwords again and again 2) have me create secure mail keys again and again 3) restart my devices again and again 4) reset and/or reinstall the entire OS for my Mac and iPhone! Are you kidding me?!!?! 5) keep using different links to ATT.com to sign in.

Finally, while on hold with the dummies at Apple support for the third time, I was tinkering with manual configuration when I GOT IT! Me - someone with no knowledge and no instructions - figured this out, the very thing the customer service reps told me was forbidden and hadn't even suggested during our conversations. And the solution IS TRULY SO SIMPLE! WHY DID NO ONE SUGGEST THIS OUT OF OVER A DOZEN REPS?!?!?!

IF THIS SOUNDS LIKE YOU - HERE IS THE SOLUTION - DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH CRUMMY CUSTOMER SERVICE!

SOLUTION (read comment below - I "exceeded the 5,000 character limit" for posting:

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Sep 11, 2021 9:13 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

rachelapowers Author

Level 1

16 points

Sep 11, 2021 9:14 PM in response to rachelapowers

(CONTINUED) HERE IS THE SOLUTION:

Mac:

1. Go to att.com

2. Top right corner, click account, sign in

3. After sign in, go back to the top right corner, click account, then profile

4. Scroll down. Click manage secure mail key

5. Click add secure mail key

6. Give it a nickname, then click create

7. Copy it to clipboard (paste it somewhere secure or write it down to be sure you don't lose it); you may now close out of ATT.com

8. Next, open mail app on your Mac

9. Top left, click Mail, Add account

10. Select other mail account, click continue

11. Put in your name, email address (whole thing! your_username@yahoo.com NOT just your_username), and then paste your secure mail key where the password should go

12. Click sign in

From here, Mac mail should run with it and sign you into your mail account!

iPhone:

1. Go to att.com

2. Top right corner, click account, sign in

3. After sign in, go back to the top right corner, click account, then profile

4. Scroll down. Click manage secure mail key

5. Click add secure mail key

6. Give it a nickname, then click create

7. Copy it to clipboard (paste it somewhere secure or write it down to be sure you don't lose it). If you created the mail key on a Mac, text it to your iPhone if possible, then copy it to your iPhone's clipboard. After creating the mail key, you may now close out of ATT.com

8. Next, on your iPhone, open settings

9. Select passwords & accounts

10. Select add account

11. Very bottom, tap on Other

12. At the top, Add Mail Account

13. Put in your name, email address (whole thing! your_username@yahoo.com NOT just your_username), and then paste your secure mail key where the password should go. "Description" field will auto populate

12. Tap on "Next"

From here, iPhone mail should run with it and sign you into your mail account!

**NOTE: I was not able to run this process on an older iOS. I had to use iOS 12.5.4 and up otherwise I got error messages regarding the incoming mail server being unresponsive. I was able to get this same process to work on another test device, an iPhone 6S running iOS 14.4

HOPE THIS HELPS!!!

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Can't add ATT mail accounts to Mac mail on MacBook Air and iPhone 5S

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