Can't sign in to gmail. Other websites work

[fortytwo]

This morning my LG Gram laptop would not connect to gmail, but was connected to other websites.  Had a message my computer needed to restart to do updates, so did that.  No wifi connections thereafter.  Diagnostics said problem with driver.  Couldn't copy an updated driver downloaded to my desktop.  Tech support had me disable driver and restart.  Other websites, including this one, now connect but not gmail.  Gmail works on all my other devices.  Did an offline Defender scan.  Nothing found, still no gmail.

Not a fan of Win 11 home, and hate windows updates.

Any suggestions?  Maybe a virus?  Accidently brushed some key combo with my palm and have a "quote" box below which I can't find a way to close.  I

 

 

Quote

 

[hiljoball]

try to log in to gmail through your web browser. See if that works.

John

[Ray,IN]

That is odd. I'm having trouble with outlook.com so had to switch my main emails to Gmail, which works great.

[durangodon]

I got a notice from Google a couple of weeks ago that gmail would no longer work with email programs which didn't sign in through Google.  I've been using Windows Live Mail for about 15 years, before that used Outlook Express.  Neither will work in a few weeks (forgot the deadline).  So, I have started using Thunderbird on my Windows machine.  It works great and is very versatile, can set it up to look just like Windows Live Mail.

Thunderbird will let you set up your gmail account as either POP or IMAP.  During setup, it goes directly to Google and authorizes so from then on works wonderfully.  Same for yahoo mail.

[RV_]

Fortytwo,

I had issues with gmail a while ago and had to go to Google to get a special password to let me use what they called "Outdated" email programs.

Perhaps Google is trying to force us to use Chrome or whatever their client is now.

First off, Windows updates fix problems like this when it is the fault of Windows. Even Linux does updates regularly, as does Apple for security but also performance improvements. Any issues are quickly fixed for bad updates within a few hours to a day by all four Microsoft/Google/Apple/Linux.

The latest version of Windows Mail has broken the settings for Gmail. The automated method for adding the account using the Google link provided by the Mail app no longer works.

I got one computer’s Gmail working in Mail (Windows mail) by changing the settings in Gmail and getting a special code when I did. It worked. But was a PITA. 

The best way I’ve found to work around this is to remove the Gmail account from the Mail app and then re-add it manually via the “Other Account” POP/IMAP route using the IMAP settings as described in Gmail help: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7126229?hl=en

 One other thing you may have to do is change a security setting in Google to allow access to less secure apps. Google now considers the Windows Mail App a less secure app and therefore blocks it from doing some tasks. 

That will work. If you don’t do updates designed to make Windows work, I can’t guarantee any of my fixes as they are used on fully updated machines. In fact I just finished going through this with my new Lenovo All-In-One (AIO) that is a 27” touch screen 10^th gen 17 27” touchscreen QHD SSD/with storage second drive. After doing my Windows updates and installing MS Office I ran into the same problem trying to do a new account in Windows Mail as Google. Realized my mistake and deleted it then set it up as Other and it worked the first time every time. Do the bolded suggestion first and save your time for other things.

I am also going to try Thunderbird per Don's suggestion above. That will be after I have transferred all my 300GB of MP3 music and all my pics and videos to the new system and external drives.

Hope that helps.

 

[hiljoball]

I have used Thunderbird for a number of years. It works well, and has not suffered any of these issues listed above.

John

[RV_]

John thanks for the added recommend on Thunderbird. I am going to try it side by side for a while and if I like it use only it. I am going to drop back and begin to store all my emails locally like I did with Microsoft Office outlook which became bloatware and worse than the Mail client in Windows. I only went to Gmail because I had no other choice when I moved here and now will just use my domain email forwarding with another client perhaps Thunderbird. That lets me save my emails locally and not leave them on my domain server. I have about 20 TB of spare drives for storage and a nice Faraday cage that will save all my data if we have WW3 and we survive, which I can access anytime to sync with my new main AIO. Then I will have only my one old backup system with an i5 6500T processor which will not run Windows 11 and future programs and I will be good for the next six to ten years in hardware. I liked having total control over my data and to be honest, when I die my kids will likely throw it all out anyway, except the videos and still pics we took of them growing up. I have all my tales from the road to put back up on my website but am second thinking that too. This place has become political no matter how you slice it and I find it a bit fossilized. I do have a Facebook page which is locked down and only my friends are allowed after email verification. I am not interested in going viral but I do my share there.

I will come here occasionally and answer questions for the friends I have here. And as I just did for people I do not like when I think my friends here will benefit too. These forums have become a clique. I don't do cliques, fight them, or quit. But love to watch. See people tell you who and what they are with every interaction. Most folks here are great!   

Safe travels!