#!/bin/cat $Id: FAQ.Passwords_on_Windows.txt,v 1.6 2022/10/26 10:27:37 gilles Exp gilles $ This document is also available online at https://imapsync.lamiral.info/FAQ.d/ https://imapsync.lamiral.info/FAQ.d/FAQ.Passwords_on_Windows.txt ======================================================================= Imapsync issues with passwords on Windows. ======================================================================= Related documentation: http://www.robvanderwoude.com/escapechars.php http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3288552/how-can-i-escape-an-exclamation-mark-in-cmd-scripts In case you're brave and relentless, understand and try this: http://www.dostips.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1733 ======================================================================= Q. On Windows, some passwords contain $ or other special characters like one of the nine characters $%&<>|^"! and then login fails. R0. Change the password so that only normal characters remain. It's often a quick and good solution. If you care about strong password policy, just make it longer. If you can't avoid special characters use no problematic characters such as underscore _ or minus - or comma , or dot. If you can't change passwords then read on and good luck! R1. Enclose passwords between "" imapsync ... --password1 "zzz$zz$$z" R2. Prefix each $ character with a ^ since ^ is the escape character on Windows imapsync ... --password1 zzz^$zz^$^$z For a password that is exactly the 8 characters string $%&<>|^" you have to enter imapsync ... --password1 "$%%&<>|^"^" The exclamation mark ! does not have to be escaped sometimes, so have a try. ======================================================================= Q. On Windows, some passwords begin with an equal = character. Login fails. What can I do? R. Use twice equals == characters instead; For example, if =secret is the password then use: imapsync ... --password1 ==secret or even imapsync ... --password1 "==secret" ======================================================================= =======================================================================