'Mail could not be received at this time. The server for account returned the error "authentication failed"' in Outlook for Mac 2011

Symptoms

When you try to receive email in Microsoft Outlook for Mac 2011, you receive an error message that resembles the following message:

Mail could not be received at this time.
The server for account <name> returned the error "authentication failed." Your username/password or security settings may be incorrect. Would you like to try re-entering your password?


Mail could not be received at this time error message

Cause

This problem can be caused by incorrect account settings.

Resolution

Adjust the account settings

To adjust the account settings, follow these steps:

  1. Open Outlook.
  2. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
  3. On the left side of the window, select your email account.
  4. In the Outgoing server box, enter the correct SMPT server information.
  5. Make sure that override the SMTP port is selected. Enter 587 in the box.
  6. Close the Window.