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Q: how can I use a Gmail app password with smtp?

Google recently disabled the "less secure apps" option for Gmail, so I went ahead and created an app password so I could continue to access my Gmail account from the comfort of Emacs (mu4e + offlineimap).

offlineimap (and therefore mu4e) is able to access my account when using the app password I generated, so that part is working. However, I cannot send any messages. Every time I try, I get an error message that reads:

https://support.google.com/mail/?p=InvalidSecondFactor i20-20020a05620a249400b006a6ce613c7csm10357803qkn.89 - gsmtp in response to AUTH

(Yes, I have turned on 2-factor authentication as required to generate an app password.)

I have updated my smtp credentials with:

(setq smtpmail-auth-credentials
      '(("smtp.gmail.com"
         587 
         "[email protected]"
         "MY_NEW_APP_PASSWORD")))

What am I missing here?

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1 Answer 1

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Here's what I have, hopefully it will help you. Works for sending via C-x m or the gnus interface, and I've had it set up for several months.

~/.emacs:

(custom-set-variables
 '(send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it)
 '(smtpmail-smtp-server "smtp.gmail.com")
 '(smtpmail-smtp-service 587))

~/.authinfo:

machine smtp.gmail.com login [email protected] password MY_APP_PASSWORD
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  • Yes, that works. I wish I knew why it works with the .authinfo file rather than entering the password directly in smtp-auth-credentials. (Yes .authinfo is more secure when using gpg, but I'm mainly curious why inputting it directly failed.) At any rate, thank you!
    – Dan ♦
    Commented Jun 13, 2022 at 17:19

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