Email Connection Issues

Ordara connects to your email account using IMAP. Most connection problems come down to authentication — specifically, many email providers require an app password instead of your regular login password.

Setting Up App Passwords

Gmail

Gmail requires an app password to allow Ordara to connect. Your regular Google password will not work.

WARNING

You must have two-factor authentication (2FA) enabled on your Google account before you can generate an app password. If 2FA is not enabled, the app password option will not appear.

1. Go to myaccount.google.com and sign in.
2. Navigate to Security in the left sidebar.
3. Under How you sign in to Google, confirm that 2-Step Verification is turned on. If it is not, enable it first.
4. Search for App passwords in the search bar at the top of the page, or visit myaccount.google.com/apppasswords directly.
5. Enter a name for the app (e.g., "Ordara") and click Create.
6. Copy the 16-character password that appears. Use this as your password in Ordara.

TIP

The app password is shown only once. If you lose it, you'll need to generate a new one.

Yahoo

Yahoo accounts require an app password as well.

1. Go to login.yahoo.com/account/security and sign in.
2. Click Generate app password.
3. Select Other app, enter "Ordara" as the name, and click Generate.
4. Copy the password and use it in Ordara.

IMAP Server Settings

If Ordara asks you to enter IMAP settings manually, use the values below.

Provider	IMAP Server	Port	Encryption
Gmail	imap.gmail.com	993	SSL/TLS
Yahoo	imap.mail.yahoo.com	993	SSL/TLS

Outlook / Hotmail

Outlook and Hotmail are not currently supported as connected email accounts. As a workaround, you can set up email forwarding from your Outlook or Hotmail account to a supported provider like Gmail, and Ordara will pick up the forwarded orders from there.

Common Error Messages

"Authentication failed"

This almost always means one of two things:

• You're using your regular password instead of an app password. Gmail and Yahoo require app passwords for third-party apps like Ordara. See the setup instructions above.
• Your app password has been revoked or expired. Generate a new one and update it in Ordara.

I'm sure my password is correct

Double-check that you haven't accidentally included extra spaces when pasting the app password. Some password managers add trailing whitespace. Also confirm you are using the app password, not your regular account password.

"Connection refused"

This means Ordara could not reach the email server at all. Common causes:

• Incorrect server address or port. Verify your IMAP settings match the table above.
• Firewall or antivirus software is blocking the connection. Check whether your firewall allows outbound connections on port 993.
• Your network restricts IMAP. Some corporate or school networks block IMAP traffic. Try connecting from a different network.

"Certificate error"

This usually means your computer's system clock is significantly wrong, which causes SSL certificate validation to fail.

• Check your system clock. Make sure the date, time, and time zone are set correctly on your computer.
• On macOS: System Settings > General > Date & Time > enable Set date and time automatically.
• On Windows: Settings > Time & Language > Date & time > enable Set time automatically.