WP SMTP not working for @live.com.au email

Hi @melissaknight,

Thanks for reaching out & I apologize for the trouble! When you get a chance, please try following this guide to see if you can debug your email sending issue.

Let us know how it goes. Thanks!

Hi. Thank you for that advice. The error events don’t really mean a lot to me, it is just saying that it can’t authenticate. But there was no change to the login or password to the account since it has been set-up on the site. It is still giving the authentication messages after we have reset the password on the email account and entered the new password into the settings.

The error is ‘Mailer: Other SMTP SMTP Error: Could not authenticate.’

Heads up! The last email your site attempted to send was unsuccessful.

Email Source: WooCommerce Mailer: Other SMTP SMTP Error: Could not authenticate.

For more details please try running an Email Test or reading the latest error event.

The settings entered are for type other / smtp-mail.outlook.com / port 587 / username / password to the account. I have checked @live server settings and these all seem to be correct. I have also checked with my server administrators and they are unable to get it to authenticate either. Are you able to assist further? Thank you in advance.

Hi @melissaknight,

Thanks for the additional information! Are you able to send test emails from your WordPress site (WP Mail SMTP -> Tools)? If so, try enabling the “Force From Email” option under the WP Mail SMTP -> Settings page and retest your WooCommerce notifications.

If you cannot send test emails, it means you are experiencing an issue related to your hosting provider or your email provider. Please get in touch with your email provider with the full error log, and they should be able to assist you further.

Alternatively, you may also configure a different mailer on your site.

I hope this helps. Thanks!

Hi there. I hope all is well. Just an update on this case. I have just been advised that a second site of mine, this time using a Hotmail address is also failing authentication when trying to send emails from WooCommerce to the users Hotmail address. Again, this site just stopped emailing with no change to the email account login or password. The authentication simply no longer works. Perhaps something has changed with authentication requirements for Microsoft accounts, as both Hotmail and Live email accounts are Microsoft. We have been in touch with Microsoft but it is not that easy to get technical support from them they have provided a link to the admin center which we will attempt to contact as well but in the meantime if you could look into this as well it would be very helpful. Thank you in advance.

Hi @melissaknight,

Thanks for getting in touch! Are you using an App Password for your SMTP Password section within the WP Mail SMTP -> Settings page? If not, please create an App Password by following this guide and update the SMTP Password section accordingly.

If you’re already using an App Password, the issue will need to be resolved through your hosting provider.

I hope this helps. Thanks!