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Why am I being told I need to enable cookies when I'm NOT using a browser to access Outlook (using Thunderbird)?

Anonymous
2024-09-13T01:04:31+00:00

OK, so I thought I had everything set up to use the "modern authentication methods" to access Outlook email (I read the doc that was linked in the email I got warning that I needed to do this in order to continue using Outlook). All I had to change was the authentication method, which apparently needs to be set to OAuth2. **** I did that, and everything seemed cool, until I got this error message (from Thunderbird) when trying to access my email account:

We can't sign you in

Your browser is currently set to block cookies. You need to allow cookies to use this service. What? First of all, I'm not using a browser to access Outlook; I'm using an email client (Thunderbird), so the message doesn't even make sense. I did set my browser (Opera) to accept cookies, but that didn't help.

Help!

Outlook | Windows | Classic Outlook for Windows | For business

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-09-13T07:24:28+00:00

    I was frustrated at first by your reply: since when does an email client use cookies? Well, dog my cats, turns out that Thunderbird does have some cookie settings that apply to web access: who knew? When I set it to accept cookies, it let me give my Outlook password and authenticated me. So everything's cool now.

    Suggestion: this document that was linked in the email I got from Microsoft about needing to update my authentication method doesn't say anything about cookies. (It does have a section pertaining specifically to Thunderbird, but only covers changing the authentication method.) Can someone contact the team responsible for that document and see if they can't add something there about enabling cookies? I'm sure I'm not the only person who will have been bitten in the butt by this problem, with no idea how to fix it. (The setting option in Thunderbird is at Privacy & Security--> Web Content--> Accept cookies from sites.)

    2 people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2024-09-13T16:18:06+00:00

    You can stop with the boilerplate corporate blather already.

    I found your reply unhelpful at first because it didn't seem to address my problem, but it turned out that you were correct. (I didn't realize that email clients also used cookies.)

    Yes, I know that you're Microsoft and not Thunderbird; however, as I pointed out, there are instructions in that Microsoft document that explain how to change Thunderbird settings to make it work, so we don't have to contact Thunderbird support for that. The idea is to make things as easy as possible for the user here, right?

    Regarding your suggestion of providing feedback on this issue to Outlook: how do I do that? Isn't Outlook part of your company, Microsoft? Can't you forward my suggestion to them? If not, can you give me a specific entry point I can use to contact them?

    Thanks,

    Homer

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-09-13T08:20:11+00:00

    Dear Homer Xoobla,

    Thank you for your reply.

    I'm glad that you've successfully configured your Microsoft email account. In fact, Thunderbird is not a product of Microsoft, so when users need assistance with related settings, we would advise them to contact Thunderbird's support. If you haven't found the setting yourself, you can still reach out to them for assistance with the setup. Therefore, my response cannot be deemed unhelpful, and I regret that you marked my reply as unhelpful, which is somewhat disheartening for me.

    Regarding your mention of modifying the content of Microsoft's official documentation, you can provide feedback on this issue to Outlook.

    Best Regards,

    Ulrica.W - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-09-13T06:34:25+00:00

    Dear Homer Xoobla,

    Thank you for posting in the Microsoft community.

    Based on your description, when logging into Outlook in Thunderbird, you were informed that cookies need to be allowed, which can happen when using modern authentication. In terms of account configuration, the OAuth2 you have chosen is correct.

    As you mentioned, you have already set the Opera browser to accept cookies, but Thunderbird may require you to allow cookies set by it specifically. Regarding the specific location to modify cookie settings, kindly speaking, you would need to contact Thunderbird support for further assistance. This is a suggestion from Thunderbird, so they would be better equipped to address this issue than I am. Thank you for your understanding.

    We appreciate you spend your time working on this issue. Feel free to post back if you need further assistance.  I wish you all the best.

    Best Regards,

    Ulrica.W - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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