error message: "Unable to sign in. Try again or create an app password for this account."

Hi Ellen Caya,

I understand the confusion here, especially since the account is working on your iPhone but not in Outlook on your PC and keeps rejecting the password.

Have you had a chance to try the steps suggested by the Q&A Assist answer? The explanation there is generally valid, especially in scenarios where app passwords are required, so it would be helpful to confirm whether you were able to test that.

Please note that this is a user-to-user forum, so contributors cannot access your account or verify the sign-in setup directly.

I would like to add a few important points that may help clarify what is happening:

1. If this is an Outlook.com, Hotmail.com, Live.com, or MSN.com account, try removing the account from classic Outlook and adding it again through File > Add Account, then enter the email address and let Outlook detect the settings automatically. If Outlook can add it as a Microsoft/Exchange-type account, that is usually better than adding it manually as IMAP.
2. If Outlook still asks for an IMAP password or shows the same app-password message, create a new app password from the email provider’s security page, then paste that app password into Outlook instead of your normal account password. Do not reuse the newly changed regular password in that prompt.
3. If the app-password option is not available, check whether two-step verification is enabled for the account. For Microsoft accounts, app passwords are used when two-step verification is turned on and an app or device does not support that sign-in method.
4. If this is not a Microsoft email address, such as Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, iCloud, or an email from an internet provider, please create the app password from that provider’s website, not from the Microsoft account page.

Hope this helps clarify why the changed password was not accepted and what to check next.

The error and behavior indicate that the account in classic Outlook needs an app password (different from the normal Microsoft account password), especially when using IMAP.

Follow these steps:

1. Generate an app password with the email provider
   1. Sign in to the email provider’s website in a browser (for example, Outlook.com, Gmail, iCloud, AOL, etc.).
   2. Go to the account’s security or sign‑in settings.
   3. Look for options related to “App passwords”, “App‑specific passwords”, or “Third‑party app passwords”.
   4. Create a new app password for Outlook on Windows and copy it.
2. Use the app password in Outlook for Windows
   1. In classic Outlook, when prompted for the IMAP password, paste the app password instead of the normal account password.
   2. If the prompt does not appear automatically, go to File > Account Settings > Account Settings…, select the account, and choose Repair or Change to re‑enter the password.
3. If Outlook still will not accept the password
   1. Remove the account from classic Outlook.
   2. Add it again via File > Add Account, enter the email address, and when Outlook asks for the password, use the app password.

If the message explicitly says “Please create an app password for Outlook on your email provider's site”, this confirms that an app password is required and the normal sign‑in password will not work in classic Outlook.

References:

• Add an email account to Outlook for Windows
• I can't send or receive messages in Outlook