Exchange Password Required

Hi,

This problem is most likely related to 2 Factor Authentication that is not supported by Apple Mail. In this case MS recommends to use App specific password.

Login to your Microsoft account on internet. Go to your "Account Manager" - "View Account" - "Security Info" where you should see "Default sign-in method: Authenticator app or hardware token - code". Press "+Add method" and choose "App password". Enter a name e.g. "Mac Mail" and MS will create new App specific password for you.

On Mac go to "System Preferences" - "Internet Accounts" and delete current Exchange account (-). Add new Exchange account (+) and enter your email address. When asked for password, do not enter your regular MS password, but the just created App specific password.

This should solve the issue with repeating password requests.

Best

An update, as I posted also in the other thread Exchange password required message on eve… - Apple Community: I disabled "Low power mode" when on battery power (System Settings -> Battery -> Battery -> Low power mode), and the complaints are gone for several days. now. Seems that low power mode somehow messes up email updates during sleep. This is on an M1 MacBook Air; the setting may be different on different machines or operating systems. My old computer (that can't get the Monterey update) doesn't have this setting, instead it had Power Nap. It never had any problems.

I managed to make this disappear for a few days by *completely* removing the account: remove it from account settings (from all devices), let the removal sync to other devices, reboot, and remove it from the sql accounts database:

/usr/bin/sqlite3 ~/Library/Accounts/Accounts4.sqlite 'DELETE FROM ZACCOUNT WHERE ZUSERNAME = "my@email"'

Then add the account again.

This worked for a few days. Now the popup is back again.

I don't actually need to enter the password—the account works without it—but the system keeps nagging and nagging and nagging and nagging about it. Every wakeup from sleep, and sometimes just randomly while using the computer. The university providing the account enforces M$ proprietary MFA and doesn't allow application-specific passwords that are according to the useless IT department supposedly "incompatible".

This is in latest macOS 12.2.1, so the "Apple recommended" comment above doesn't help at all.

Sorry to hear about that. I could manage the app specific password completely without my IT. If you have access to your MS account, try to follow my advice. Since I applied this no more nagging hints since weeks.

The option is not there for me. I can add the M$ app, standard app (Google Authenticator or so), or phone call (WTF?!? No SMS?!?) as MFA methods, but that's all. There's no option for an application-specific password. They've either purposefully disabled it, or it really doesn't work with MFA the way they do it (I don't believe it).

Start with updating to 12.2. It has fixed some bugs.