The process to configure a connection to Outlook.com in macOS is not intuitive for whatever reason only Microsoft and Apple know. I found several outdated and unhelpful articles that had me going nowhere.
So here’s the magic solution: Use App-Specific Password. Create that first, then configure macOS.
To generate an app-specific password:
- Go to account.microsoft.com and log in
- On the Account bar (or tap Account on you mobile device), and click or tap Security & privacy.
- Find the link titled More security settings and click/tap it.
- Under App Passwords, find and click/tap Create new app password.
- An app password will be generated. Use this to log into Outlook.com email service from within macOS Mail.
How do you do that? This is how:
- In macOS Mail, click Mail in the task bar.
- Click Add Account…
- Click Other Mail Account and click Continue.
- Enter the Outlook.com email address and then enter the app-specific password you generated in the previous steps. Click Sign In.
After a few moments, you should be good to go.
PS: Why is it a breeze to set up an Outlook account in iOS but such a mystery in macOS?