Once the internet's trailblazer, Yahoo's email platform gained immense popularity after its launch in 1997. However, due to many security incidents and fierce competition, Yahoo's acclaim has now dissipated over time.
Whether you are still on the fence or have already decided about quitting Yahoo, here are the steps to take to delete your Yahoo account.
How to Delete Your Yahoo Account
If you think deleting a Yahoo account entails searching for some sort of a "Delete" option under your account settings, then think again.
While it's not backbreaking work to delete your Yahoo account, the Yahoo team does make it a bit hard for you to call it quits, and understandably so due to its declining popularity.
In fact, Yahoo created a separate Yahoo account termination page, which you need to visit in order to delete your account. Here are the steps to take when deleting your Yahoo account:
- Visit
- Type in your email address and then Next.
- Type in your password and then Next again.
- Read the terms for terminating your Yahoo account.
- Click Yes, terminate this account.
If you do change your mind later, Yahoo gives you the flexibility to recover any deactivated account within 40 days of sending the deactivation request. Otherwise, your account will be gone for good.
Related: It's Time to Leave Yahoo: How to Quit and Move to Gmail Right Now
What You Need to Know Before Quitting Yahoo
Here are a few things to be aware of before quitting Yahoo entirely.
Will I Still Be Able to Access My Email for Sometime?
Once your account is terminated, you can still log in for a period of 30 days to reactivate it.
This gives you the opportunity to read your old emails and reactivate the account if you change your mind. After this time period, your account is deactivated for good.
What Happens to Emails Sent to My Address After My Account Is Closed?
As soon as you close your Yahoo account, senders emailing you on your deleted account will receive a bounceback delivery failure message.
So it would be wise to monitor your Yahoo emails for a while before deleting the service. This not only lets you observe how many messages you receive but you can also notify your contacts of your new email address.
What Happens to My Email Address and Username?
Your username and email address will be up for grabs and available for others to use in the future. This could potentially mean that they might receive messages intended for you if your senders keep using your old email address, but is unlikely if they received too many delivery failure messages in the interim.
Will I Lose Access to All Data?
Once you delete your Yahoo account, you will lose all access to your emails, email folders, Flickr photos, calendars, Yahoo Fantasy teams, and Yahoo Finance portfolios.
Making the Jump Away From Yahoo
Now you've done that, you need to decide what comes next. Right now, our best suggestion is to switch to a secure alternative that encrypts your messages.
Of course, you can always come back to Yahoo in future if the service gains popularity again, or if you decide against using some of the other more popular email services like Gmail.
