Suddenly unable to access the IMAP server through iPhone

[AdamInKent]

Hi.

I am moving this question over from Twitter in the hope that someone can help with it, at the suggestion of ^TW.

I access email on my iMac and iPhone using the IMAP server. Without warning, I lost access at the weekend. Following the instructions on the email help website, I updated my password. This enabled me to regain access to my mail account via WebMail and via IMAP on my computer. 

However, I am still unable to update the email password in my iPhone email account settings. When I attempt to do so, I am informed that my blueyonder email address is invalid: it is the same address that I am using to access the IMAP server on my computer and the same that I have used for decades.

My phone is running the latest IOS: 16.3.1. I am using the default email client. 

Has anyone else come across this problem? Or, please can someone from Virgin help? 

[AdamInKent]

I just noticed that I am able to send email from my phone using the SMTP server. So it seems to be a problem only with IMAP.

[AdamInKent]

I forgot to mention. I am a Virgin Media customer (ie I am not accessing the Virgin Media servers via a third party broadband service). 

[coenoby · Accepted solution]

@AdamInKent 

I don't use any Apple or ios devices but for what it's worth here are my thoughts based on what you have posted:

"I updated my password. This enabled me to regain access to my mail account via WebMail and via IMAP on my computer."

So it seems that currently there is no inherent problem with your VM email account itself or with the Virgin Media's IMAP server. If there was a problem with either of those you would not be able to access your emails via Webmail and the email app on your computer.

"unable to update the email password in my iPhone email account settings. When I attempt to do so, I am informed that my blueyonder email address is invalid"

So if the VM email account works on other devices and email apps that suggests the problem you are seeing is caused by something in the iPhone Mail app itself.

As I say, I'm not an ios user but I have seen this complaint come up before on the Apple community forum. My advice would be to try deleting your VM email account from the Mail app (not from the VM website!) and then try adding it to the app as a "new" account.

That worked for this poster on the Apple Community forum  https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252894673

They were trying to update their email password for an account in their Mail app but continually getting the "Invalid email address" error. When they deleted the account from the app and then set it up again it all worked fine without a hitch.

The "delete and set it up again" trick is always worth trying  when you have a problem with any email account any email app.😉

Try it and see how it goes.

Coenoby

[AdamInKent]

Thanks Coenoby, that worked for me 🙂

[Ennda]

I have a similar problem but it's via my desktop iMac computer rather than an iPhone. My Mail server is Virgin but I usually read and send all my emails via Apple Mail with my blueyonder address. I don't log in to Virgin Mail very often, I don't need to. Recently my Apple inbox has not been receiving any email at all so Iogged in to my Virgin mail and the emails were there. There was a notice on the Virgin website, headed: Changes to our Acceptable Use Policy for Virgin Media Mail which affects blueyonder.co.uk as well as several other email address endings. It said (I'm summarising but you can look it up) that you have to access your Virgin Media Mail mailbox at least once every 90 days. If you don't do this, they may suspend access, without prior notice, to your mailbox. I assume this is why currently there's no incoming mail in my Apple Mailbox. I can still see mail  if I log in to Virgin mail but this is a nuisance. Why is Apple Mail being closed off? I spent 2 hours on the phone at the Virgin number which is listed as the one where your mail can be re-activated but nobody at that number or other numbers I was transferredto could answer my questions. They didn't even know such a problem exists. I am tearing what's left of my hair!  Does anyone know how to re-set the Apple Mail app to make any needed changes? And where to find the needed changes if Virgin has de-activated your Apple and blueyonder mail?

[coenoby]

@Ennda 

"you have to access your Virgin Media Mail mailbox at least once every 90 days."

VM do certainly say that. but I strongly suspect that rarely happens in practice. I cannot remember anyone ever posting on here to say that had happened to them.

"Iogged in to my Virgin mail and the emails were there."

If the Webmail account is still working that seems to confirm my thought that the VM have not suspended your email account, In any event, if the new emails are present in the webmail account then the app should be picking them up.

"Does anyone know how to re-set the Apple Mail app to make any needed changes?"

You could check here https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/mail    The settings should be:

• Outgoing server         smtp.virginmedia.com
• SMTP SSL               Enabled
• SMTP  port              465
• SMTP authentication  Enabled (or 'Password' on Macs)
• Incoming Server     imap.virginmedia.com  (Note that applies to all VM email a/cs including Blueyonder)
• IMAP SSL              Enabled
• IMAP port             993
• IMAP authentication  Enabled (or 'Password' on Macs)
• IMAP4 username        Full email address, e.g., richard.branson@blueyonder.co.uk)
• IMAP4 SPA (Secure Password Authentication)    Disabled

On the other hand, you may find it easier to simply delete the email account from the Mail app and then add it back again. That often cures a multiple of issues with email apps so I'd suggest doing that as a first step.

Coenoby

[Ennda]

Many thanks for your helpful response. But the mailbox suspension notice on Virgin's website applies specifically to certain email endings, including blueyonder.co.uk (I'm not  listing the others, they can be seen on the notice itself). The issue I brought up is that incoming mail has stopped showing up in my Apple mailbox and to read my mail I have to log in to Virgin Media Mail every time - this slows me down and is a nuisance! My Apple mail was arriving as normal on my iMac computer until about a week ago. So when I read the Virgin notice (Changes to our Acceptable Use Policy for Virgin Media Mail) I took it for granted that because, indeed, I had not been logging in to Virgin Media Mail for more than 90 days, and I am a blueyonder email address, Virgin has, as warned, stopped allowing my blueyonder /Apple account from receiving Virgin Media mail, though it has not suspended my Virgin Mail account. To remedy the problem, I've been trying to change the info entered in my Apple Mail account details but so far this hasn't worked. I willtry your suggestions today. Thanks again.

[coenoby]

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@Ennda wrote:

But the mailbox suspension notice on Virgin's website applies specifically to certain email endings, including blueyonder.co.uk (I'm not  listing the others, they can be seen on the notice itself).

In fact that suspension notice applies to all VM email accounts, (so Virginmedia.com, Ntlworld.com, Virgin.net and not just  Blueyonder.co.uk, addresses) 

See point 6.7 in their Acceptable Usage policy (for all VM accounts) see here: https://www.virginmedia.com/legal/acceptable-use-policy

If you follow the links on that page you will see the same 90 day non use period (point 6.7)  appears in the pre June 2022 version and post June 2022 versions of VM's usage policy so it is definitely not a recent change.

"I had not been logging in to Virgin Media Mail for more than 90 days",

VM recommends that customers use the VM Webmail account but do not insist on it.

So if the email app on your Mac has been downloading emails from your Blueyonder account over the last 90 days that counts as "being used" in terms of the wording of point 6.7 in the usage policy. So just accessing emails via the app would not result in your email account being suspended.

"The issue I brought up is that incoming mail has stopped showing up in my Apple mailbox and to read my mail I have to log in to Virgin Media Mail every time -"

If, new emails are arriving in your VM webmail account it means that:

1. your email account has not been suspended by VM, if it was suspended than all email activity there would have stopped as well as via the app.
2. if the emails are on the webmail inbox then the email app on your Mac should be picking them up. 

So, if the Blueyonder webmail account is working ok but the email app is not receiving them, then I would suggest the first place to start trouble shooting the problem is the email app on the Mac.

As I said at the end of my first post, a good start would be to delete the Blueyonder account from your Mail app on the Mac (not from the VM website!). Then add it back in to the app again and see if that restarts the downloading process again.

Coenoby

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