Emails won't send on iPad or iPhone but okay on MacBook.

If I try to send emails from my iPhone 16 (OS26.1) or iPad (OS26.1) I get "Cannot Send Mail ****@***** is not a valid email address and has been rejected by the server". I have tried on a number of email addresses all of which are fine. I can receive emails on both devices.


On my MacBook Pro running OS 17.1 (yes its an old one and that is the highest OS that it can run) I can send and receive emails okay.


I have made no changes to settings on any device.


I am at a loss to know what to do.

iPad Pro, iPadOS 26

Posted on Dec 2, 2025 4:26 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 2, 2025 4:58 AM

Start with initial fault finding:


What happens when you try to receive or send email? Do you see any errors - and if so, what do you see?


If email is failing to send or receive, you are likely to see indicative errors at the bottom of the mail sidebar - the wording of the error usually providing sufficient information to determine the nature of the problem.


Deleting and re-adding your email account is sometimes the easiest way to resolve a problem with a specific Mail account. After deleting the account, perform a forced restart before re-adding the email account to your iPad.


  • Delete account:

Settings > Mail > Accounts > [Your Mail Account] > Delete Account


  • Force restart the iPad:

Force restart iPad - Apple Support


  • Add Mail Account:

Settings > Mail > Add Account



Be aware that some email providers now require the use of App Specific Passwords when accessing mail over IMAP or POP3. If this applies to your email account, you will need to generate a unique password for your iPad email account - that will differ from your normal Account Password. As examples - AOL, Yahoo and Microsoft all use App Specific Passwords when using anything other than their own email client Apps.


If you need to generate an App Specific Password, you’ll need to log-in to your Mail Providers account management webpage - using a web browser - and generate the Password from the appropriate account security page.


More information about AOL’s App Specific Passwords can be found here:

https://help.aol.com/articles/allow-apps-that-use-less-secure-sign-in?guccounter=1


For Yahoo, more information can be found here:

https://help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN27791.html


Microsoft:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/using-app-passwords-with-apps-that-don-t-support-two-step-verification-5896ed9b-4263-e681-128a-a6f2979a7944



Google Mail (Gmail) has until recently also used App Specific passwords to access email - although this has now been deprecated in favour of OAuth authentication. Simply removing and re-adding the Gmail account from the Add Account wizard, selecting Google and following the prompts, will correctly configure the correct account settings.



1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 2, 2025 4:58 AM in response to alistair78

Start with initial fault finding:


What happens when you try to receive or send email? Do you see any errors - and if so, what do you see?


If email is failing to send or receive, you are likely to see indicative errors at the bottom of the mail sidebar - the wording of the error usually providing sufficient information to determine the nature of the problem.


Deleting and re-adding your email account is sometimes the easiest way to resolve a problem with a specific Mail account. After deleting the account, perform a forced restart before re-adding the email account to your iPad.


  • Delete account:

Settings > Mail > Accounts > [Your Mail Account] > Delete Account


  • Force restart the iPad:

Force restart iPad - Apple Support


  • Add Mail Account:

Settings > Mail > Add Account



Be aware that some email providers now require the use of App Specific Passwords when accessing mail over IMAP or POP3. If this applies to your email account, you will need to generate a unique password for your iPad email account - that will differ from your normal Account Password. As examples - AOL, Yahoo and Microsoft all use App Specific Passwords when using anything other than their own email client Apps.


If you need to generate an App Specific Password, you’ll need to log-in to your Mail Providers account management webpage - using a web browser - and generate the Password from the appropriate account security page.


More information about AOL’s App Specific Passwords can be found here:

https://help.aol.com/articles/allow-apps-that-use-less-secure-sign-in?guccounter=1


For Yahoo, more information can be found here:

https://help.yahoo.com/kb/SLN27791.html


Microsoft:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/using-app-passwords-with-apps-that-don-t-support-two-step-verification-5896ed9b-4263-e681-128a-a6f2979a7944



Google Mail (Gmail) has until recently also used App Specific passwords to access email - although this has now been deprecated in favour of OAuth authentication. Simply removing and re-adding the Gmail account from the Add Account wizard, selecting Google and following the prompts, will correctly configure the correct account settings.



Emails won't send on iPad or iPhone but okay on MacBook.

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