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My iPhone “Cannot Verify Server Identity”! Here’s The Real Fix.

    David Lynch
  • 3 years ago
    • Categories: Mail

You want to send an email to your friend, but you’re receiving a strange notification. The pop-up says that the Mail app cannot verify the identity of the mail server you’re trying to connect to. In this article, I’ll explain why your iPhone “cannot verify server identity” and show you how to fix this problem for good!

What To Do When Your iPhone “Cannot Verify Server Identity”

  1. Restart Your iPhone

    If you receive an alert saying that your iPhone “cannot verify server identity”, the first thing to do is restart your iPhone. This simple step can occasionally fix a minor software glitch that could be causing this error.

    To restart your iPhone, press and hold the power button until you see slide to power off appear near the top of your iPhone’s display. Use a finger to swipe the red power icon from left to right to turn off your iPhone.

    Wait around a minute, then press and hold the power button again to turn it back on. You can release the button once the Apple logo appears at the center of the display on your iPhone.

  2. Close The Mail App, Then Reopen It

    When the mail app isn’t working properly, try closing out of the app and reopening it. This can occasionally resolve minor problems if the app’s software crashed while you were using it.

    To close out of the Mail app, double-click the Home button, which will open up the App Switcher. Use a finger to swipe up on the Mail app until it no longer appears in the App Switcher.

  3. Delete Your Email Account, Then Add The Email Account Again

    Deleting and reentering your email account information resets your email’s server identity certificates, which allow your email account to be verified by the Mail app.  Don’t worry — deleting an email account on your iPhone will not delete your actual email account.

    To delete an email account on your iPhone, open the Settings app and tap Mail -> Accounts. Then, under Accounts, look for the email account you want to delete and tap it. Finally, tap the red Delete Account button at the bottom of the screen, then tap Delete Account again when the confirmation alert appears on your iPhone’s display.

    To add your account back to your iPhone, go back to Mail -> Accounts. Then, tap Add Account and follow your iPhone’s prompts to re-enter your account information.

  4. Reset All Settings

    When you reset all settings, all of the data from the Settings app on your iPhone will be erased. Software issues can be difficult to track down, so we’ll reset all settings to make sure we erase the problem completely.

    To reset all settings, open up the Settings app, then tap General -> Reset -> Reset All Settings. If you have a passcode or a Restrictions passcode, you’ll be prompted to enter them. Once you do, tap Reset All Settings when the confirmation alert appears at the bottom of your iPhone’s display.

Need More Help?

A while ago, we recorded a video showing you how to fix the problem when your iPhone cannot verify server identity. We hope you’ll check it out and subscribe to our channel while you’re there!

You’ve Got Mail!

The Mail app on your iPhone is working again and you can start sending and receiving all of your important emails. Next time your iPhone “cannot verify server identity”, you’ll know exactly what to do! Don’t forget to share this article on social media, and feel free to leave us a comment down below if you have any other questions!

Thanks for reading,
David L.

View Comments (68)

  • Just go in and Reset Network Settings. That is all you need to do. General>Reset iPhone>Reset>Reset Network Settings

  • hi, After trying all recommended steps, I read the comments to delete my calendar!!! And it finally works, this message disappear from my phone 😂

  • I only started getting this problem when I purchased the iPhone 13 Pro. I have done all the steps here multiple times. The fix does not hold. The error message continually comes back. Why can this not be fixed?

  • I did all of the above. It worked for a little while, then the offending "Cannot Verify Server Identity" came back. So, I deleted all email accounts except my iCloud email account (because it's not as easy to delete). The error message came back after a day of using my iPhone 11 (ios 14.7.1) WITH NO email accounts. I deleted Safari cookies. Still no joy. This error message is disturbing my written notes, messages, and anything else as it constantly pops up. It started after the last update to 14.7.1. I am at a loss for how to get rid of this. BTW, I did WIPE my phone, then added some apps back and tried a couple email accounts. I also cleared all settings. Nothing is getting rid of that error message.

  • I have followed all the steps listed here, and still cannot get my phone to recognize my Outlook account. When it tells me that it can’t verify my account or to re-enter my password, it does not allow me to do so. All this started when I changed my password because I was getting a “Not Signed In To One Drive” message on my computer. I finally got tired of it and did a password reset so I could sign in and make it stop. I had no idea my Onedrive was my MSN/Outlook account. I. Hate. Outlook. I have an iPhone 6, which can’t download iOS 13, and I therefore can’t even download the Outlook app. Losing my mind here today.

  • Check that the time & date are correct first. Mine was accidentally set for 1970. As soon as I corrected that, all was well.

  • i have a bug in my calender app it says i have a virus. so I uninstalled the app, but when i re install the bug and message is still there. please help i use my calender a lot. thanks

    • were you able to figure out how to fix it if Hotmail was the issue? I'd like to know if that's causing my issues.

  • Thank you so much for helping me! Thanks for being kind to give these tips to everyone. Now my Wi-Fi can be used at work as normal.

  • What if it’s a server you’ve never heard of, not sure you even want to confirm and are inno hurry to add but just want to get rid of the annoying message. I’m guessing it’s being generated from gmail but the server is Italian and I’ve never heard of it, nor do I regularly or even irregularly send email to or from Italy.

  • It worked! Just by closing apps. Thank you. Great video. However with this problem I developed another problem. I usually get 10-20 emails a day. Now I’m getting 200. It’s all the emails I have deleted for the last week. Now what do I do? TY

  • I have the cannot verifiy server pop up on my phone except its for Hotmail. I do not have hotmail and I never have, also my husbands phone and mine are syncing and Im wondering if he might have a hotmail account and thats why im getting the notice on my phone?

  • Thank u so much sir for helping me , and thanks for being kind to give this tips to everyone. Now my wifi can be used at work as normal. I follow your “reset all setting “ steps. First step to restart don’t work. I appreciate your kindness! it really works! May god bless u ! If u help others for free, in future, other people will help u too sincerely! Amin.

  • I have had this issue now for three months done all you suggest, have Apple Tech on it but can not fix it and it is driving me nuts. Happens 1 - 3 times a week. Only happens at home but then I do not go out much. I also get Account Errors can not connect to server but then it reverts back almost in seconds and email is fine. I have to do a hard restart several times a week, I have done network resets, forget this wifi, deactivated Apple mail many times since June. This is happening on my iphone 8plus 2.5 years old, ipad 3rd Gen 1.6 months old and sometimes on hubby's iphone 8plus 2.85 months old all updated to latest software 13.6.1 which was done 22/8/2020. All my email issues have been this plus cannot connect to server messages since January 2020. The IOS 13 came in around late December 2019 for me and since then emails have been an issue. Also from Feb - May I would have my ipad just turn itself off and on while using it. That finally stopped after resetting wifi settings a few times. Is it my Wifi? Some issues have been happening since January but this last Cannot Verify since June. I got new NBN new modem etc etc in May 2020. Apple believe it is a software issue and now I have to wait till I can catch a screen shot of the next error and contact them within 3-6 hours. Issue here is if it happens on a weekend!!! it is too late by monday so it will take ages to catch this in time for them to get a recent log report. Any suggestions please help.

    • mine usually happens when I am out and then I can't find the information I need to contact for help since I can't get to the internet.

  • Hi, I am having the Cannot Verify Server Identity constantly on both my iphone and ipad since June this year. My ipad in the past week has done this almost every day but my iphone twice in 14 days. I have done everything except to reset ALL settings or Factory reset. I have an Apple Technician who wants to now escalate this to engineering but it can not be escalated until I can give them a screen shot of when it happens and get in contact with them within a 12 hour time span. This has been hard because it happens sometimes on a Saturday and by Monday it is too late for them to get the log from my ipad. I have sent them screen shots dates times but not good enough so I will still keep trying this until I catch one at say 6am on a week day, take a screen shot, not do anything else but contact apple and hope that my technician handling my case can do the log required.

    I am contacting you because I have done everything you have suggested and what Apple have and I have removed my email account (Hotmail) 13 times since January 2020 due to Cannot connect to Server Account Error messages but then it connects and 6 times on both devices since June and this current Cannot Verify Server Identity. I have had Outlook investigate and they say it is IOS issue and Apple have agreed it is. But why my iphone and ipad and occasionally my husband's. I do not get this message outside of my home but then who goes out and checks emails all the time and the Ipad stays home. Could it be something to do with just my Wifi, my home some disturbance?

    I do get the account error problem on my devices outside the home but not this Verify one.

    Help

  • I find that I simply turn off WiFi, wait a second or two, then turn it back on solves this issue every time.

  • I tried the steps and it didn’t work. SSL is turned on still no luck - I can’t figure out how to contact google . Help !

    • Same problem with both my iphone and ipad but I can not find SSL and Apple have also checked this and they are investigating it further but it has been months.

  • I believe Apple does this on purpose in updates to get people to upgrade! Did they not get caught once already. Always when new phones come out we see all these glitches in older phones.

    • I totally agree! Apple tries to force everyone to update. This mail setting changed on its own. Everything was fine a couple days ago, but then the setting changed - and I did NOT do it.

    • I am starting to believe this because I am having this issue 1 -3 times a week now on both ipad and iphone. Iphone is 2.5 years old 8plus and ipad 18 months old top of the range. But my daughter who lives in a different house different Wifi is not having issues with her new iphone 10, 4 months old and she uses my wifi several times a week when she works from my home but her husband is having email issues. Different message but he email issues of account errors etc and his phone is the 7 and over 2 years old.

  • I am unwilling to reset my phone. There has to be a better way. I understand if you call Google 24/7 you can get help.

  • followed the above steps but only got a msg 'these settings are installed by the profile "name", no idea what to do next. appreciate the help

  • Simply going into the account settings and turning SSL off fixed the problem for me. I will add that the account was working with SSL until a recent iOS update :-P
    Settings/Passwords & Accounts/(Mail Account)/Advanced/Use SSL/off

    • Been there several times and with Apple screen sharing and do not have SSL to select to turn off.

    • I have done wifi resets, hard restarts and deactivated account etc etc the only thing I have not done is a FACTORY RESET as Apple advised not too. I have to try and catch the next message Cannot Verify pop up as I just did a hard restart so when the next one pops up I am to take a screen shot and contact my Apple Case Manager. The only issue is if it happens on a Saturday it is too late by Monday for her to take a log. So it needs to happen in a 12hour or less time frame from the message to Apple screen sharing with me and record the message. I am at my wits end with this.

  • P.S. As someone else suggested, I would advise people to record or take a screenshot of their account settings before deleting the account because this information can be hard to find.

  • Thank you! It worked just beautifully. Fortunately I didn't have to do the last step and reset all of the phone's settings to see the problem resolved.

  • Tried the "Reset All Settings" step and that worked perfectly and fixed everything! Thank you!!

  • please i followed your steps exactly but after reseting and going back to add new account, it doesnt work out. i click on google and it goes back again. please help me out.

  • You forgot to tell us to take a screen-shot of the existing account before deleting it - now I have to figure out the SMTP settings from first principles.

  • Got it! And its working again!

    First try options 1 & 2. If that doesnt work... do not delete your email or reset all your settings... cause that simply sucks.

    Go into your email account settings and turn on SSL in both your incoming and outgoing mail protocols. Go to Settings, and select Accounts & Passwords. Select your email account, and then scroll down to your OUTGOING MAIL SERVER and click on SMTP. On the next screen, click on the server identified directly below where it says PRIMARY SERVER. A bunch of settings will appear. Turn on the button that says Use SSL

    Do the same thing for your INCOMING. Go to Settings, and select Accounts & Passwords. Select your email account, and then scroll down and select Advanced. A bunch of settings will appear. Directly below INCOMING SETTINGS... Turn on the button that says Use SSL

    Save settings and try accessing your mail. Should work fine now.

    Good luck.

  • Thank you. I followed your steps exactly. I still get the same message. When I click on details, this pops up:

    Any other suggestions you have would be great! Thank you!

  • Carol Graham same to you, i try to turn it off and surprisingly it works! Now i let SLL off

  • same exact issue here, I research and found they bought their domain over Verizon, a company called markmonitor this is what theri page says: The web enables previously unthinkable reach, targeting, and economies of scaleand scammers have noticed. Online brand abuse from fraud to counterfeiting is more widespread, sophisticated, and lucrative than ever.

    Despite these growing threats, many brands remain unaware of the scope of online brand abuse. Fewer still have honestly addressed the scale of impact these losses pose to their businesses.

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David Lynch: David Lynch is an expert on cell phones, cell phone plans, and other tech. After using a flip phone into his early 20s, he learned the ropes about iPhones and Androids from a former Apple employee. Today, his articles and videos are read and viewed by millions, and he has been cited by major publications including Reader's Digest, Wired, CMSWire, Consumers Advocate, and more.