Using Hotmail/Outlook as Email Server for Third Party App

Question

Now that these changes requiring Modern Authentication for third party apps have been rolled out, how can we use Hotmail or Outlook accounts as mail servers for third party applications?

When Gmail did a similar change, all that was needed was to set up 2FA and create an app password. I found instructions on how to do that for Outlook but the app was still giving an authentication error after entering the generated password. Is there a step I missed?

To clarify, these are the steps we took:

• turned on 2FA and downloaded the MS authenticator app
• signed into the authenticator app
• went to app passwords and selected Create a Password
• copied the generated password into the third party application
• sent a test email from the third party app

The test email failed with the same error it was giving before, the client is not authenticated, authentication unsuccessful, basic authentication is disabled.

Answer 1

Google is doing the same thing to gmail. It goes into action on Jan 2025. I too am looking for anther email platform that I can use with Phone systems that I install. I was using gmail to start with and all you had to do was turn on less secure apps. Then they went to the per app password that was like 16 characters long. Then I moved to Outlook and have been using that for a couple of years. Now Outlook has done away with it and Google on Jan 1, 2025 I am checking yahoo now to see if it will work for my needs.

Answer 2

Thanks, Stan. I am writing representing a third party ERP application which uses SMTP settings to push emails from the app through to whatever email the client wishes to use-- in this case Outlook. As I mentioned in my original post, this typically involves setting up a special app password the software can use in order to connect to that address, but doing so did not seem to work in this case.

Since we are able to use Gmail as an email service, which also requires this modern authentication as of Summer 2021 (IIRC), I believe it's reasonable to say that we do support modern authentication through SMTP.

Here are the instructionsI followed yesterday to set up an app password.

Is there any specific steps that we will be required to take to enable an 'app password' to work with a third-party SMTP client?

Answer 3

Dear Amanda Parks1,

Thank you for reaching out to us here in the Microsoft Community.

Here's Microsoft's latest announcement, which lists what you should do to apply modern authentication to your accounts in Outlook, Thunderbird, and Apple Mail.

Modern Authentication Methods now needed to continue syncing Outlook Email in non-Microsoft email apps - Microsoft Support

Basically, in Outlook, Thunderbird and Apple Mail, all you have to do is to re-add your account through automated process. However, in other third-party mail applications, things maybe a little tricky.

If you use another email application:

Always check the add account steps to look for Outlook.com and use it if that option is available. If Outlook.com is not an option, you will want to contact the application's support to confirm that they support Modern Authentication against EAS, POP, IMAP, and SMTP.

If the application does not support Modern Authentication, downloading Outlook is recommended. As a reminder, all users can download Outlook for free and it works with most email services. Outlook can be downloaded directly from the Microsoft Store on Windows, the Mac App Store, iOS App Store, or the Google Play Store.

I hope my suggestions are helpful to you.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions, I am here to help you further if needed.

Best Wishes,

Stan - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist