Create a secure mail key

Learn about secure mail keys and why you’ll need one to access your AT&T email from a desktop program or email app without Open Authentication (OAuth).

INSTRUCTIONS & INFO

AT&T email app security to update soon

Act now to avoid email hiccups

Do you use a desktop program or a mobile app to access and manage your AT&T email? If so, we suggest you use one with Open Authentication (OAuth) technology, which encrypts your username and password. Learn about OAuth and find out if your app uses OAuth.

If your email program or app doesn’t have OAuth technology, it will only be able to access your AT&T email program or app using a 16-character secure mail key. Be sure to use myAT&T to create a secure mail key for each of your AT&T email addresses and subaccounts, so you can continue to:

Access your AT&T email with your favorite email apps
Synchronize other account info, such as your calendar and contacts, to your email app

Create a secure mail key

Learn how to create a secure mail key from your mobile device, tablet, or computer.
Have your User ID and password ready to sign in to myAT&T.

Go to Profile > Sign-in info.
Select the email account that you want to get a secure mail key for. (You’ll find a drop-down menu at the top if you have multiple accounts.)
Scroll to Secure mail key and select Manage secure mail key.
If you have more than one email address, select the one you want to use.
Select Add secure mail key.
Enter a nickname for the secure mail key to make it easier to recognize.
Select Create secure mail key.
Select Copy secure mail key to clipboard. (Jot down your secure mail key, so you have it handy if you have to update an email app on several devices.)
- For security purposes, the secure mail key only shows until you select OK.
- If you lose or forget the secure mail key, you can create new secure mail keys as needed.
Select OK.
Go to your preferred email app and replace the existing password with your secure mail key. (For an IMAP account, delete the existing password for both the IMAP and SMTP servers and replace them with your secure mail key.)

Additional secure mail key notes

Learn how to switch to an OAuth email app and avoid secure mail keys
For step-by-step instructions to set up or update your email account in several popular email apps, use our Troubleshoot & Resolve Tool.

Review email apps on all your devices
Check the email apps you use on each of your devices to see if they use OAuth technology. If they don’t, we suggest you switch to an OAuth email app. Otherwise, you’ll have to set up a secure mail key to use with your non-OAuth email apps. Learn more about OAuth email apps

Get one secure mail key for each email address
Every AT&T email address, including each subaccount, must have its own secure mail key if you want to use it with an email app that isn’t OAuth compatible.

Access your AT&T email account without an OAuth mail app or secure mail key
You can always read and manage your email through a Web browser at currently.com. Use your AT&T email and password.

Remember that a secure mail key won’t affect your AT&T email password
You’ll still use the same password you currently use for your AT&T email account in OAuth-compatible apps, myAT&T, other AT&T products like currently.com and webmail. And, when you change your AT&T email password, you won’t need to get a new secure mail key.

Keep your secure mail key as long as you like
Secure mail keys never expire.

Create a new secure mail key for a blocked or locked account
For safety reasons, we delete secure mail keys whenever we have to lock or block your account. If that happens, you’ll have to create a new secure mail key for each AT&T email address.

Give your secure mail key a nickname
We suggest you create a nickname to identify your secure mail key, especially if you have more than one. It’s much easier to recognize a nickname, like Ari’s email or Kelly’s email, than the 16 random characters you entered when you set up your email.

Last updated: December 12, 2019