Using the New Outlook for Mac features in business environments
When i check User Sign-ins(non interactive) Logs in Entra i am seeing these failures
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Hi All
Many users in our environment have reported issues that they are unable to add their Microsoft Exchange accounts through Internet Accounts in macOS and encounter the following error: com.apple.accounts error 3. Has anyone encountered this issue? Any insights into the potential cause or troubleshooting steps would be appreciated.
Using the New Outlook for Mac features in business environments
When i check User Sign-ins(non interactive) Logs in Entra i am seeing these failures
Above the settings for one of my user
Dear Glenn,
As a forum moderator, I genuinely wish I could directly access your account or delve into the backend systems to diagnose and fix this for you. Unfortunately, my role here is limited to providing general guidance and solutions that can be applied by users. Since many users are affected at once, this is unlikely to be a local Keychain or profile issue on individual Macs. From my research, com.apple.accounts error 3 is a generic macOS Internet Accounts failure when the Exchange account setup cannot complete, and the usual culprits are EWS access, OAuth, Conditional Access, Autodiscover, or network inspection sitting in the path. Start with the organization and mailbox level settings:
Get-OrganizationConfig | Format-List EwsEnabled,OAuth2ClientProfileEnabled
Get-CASMailbox ******@contoso.com | Format-List EwsEnabled,EwsApplicationAccessPolicy,EwsAllowList,EwsBlockList
If EwsEnabled is explicitly False, find out which policy or security baseline set it before changing anything, as a recent baseline or hardening change would explain a simultaneous failure across users. Also check EwsApplicationAccessPolicy, since an allow list that does not include the macOS client would produce the same result.
Alongside that, it is worth reviewing:
On a single test Mac, disable VPN and iCloud Private Relay, apply pending macOS updates, remove only the affected Exchange account from System Settings > Internet Accounts, restart, then re add it via Microsoft Exchange using automatic discovery and complete the sign in and MFA flow. Do not delete locally stored mail unless the mailbox contents are confirmed in Outlook on the web.
If the sign in logs show the requests reaching Entra ID and succeeding, the problem is almost certainly after authentication, which points back to EWS access or a network appliance rather than identity.
If the tenant side checks come back clean, a service request would be the next step. A technical support engineer can perform a remote session to investigate the situation, verify the backend configurations, and run any necessary synchronization tools to resolve the problem. If the issue requires further attention, they can escalate it to a specialized team for deeper analysis. For detailed instructions on how to get support, please refer to Get support - Microsoft 365 admin.
I truly hope you get your issue resolved swiftly. Please know that even though I can't directly intervene, directing you to the correct, specialized support is the most effective help I can provide from my position. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Please let me know if you need anything else. Wishing you all the best.
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The "com.apple.accounts error 3" when attempting to add Microsoft Exchange accounts on macOS can occur for several reasons. Here are some potential causes and troubleshooting steps you can take:
Potential Causes