How to Recover/Reactivate an Old Yahoo Mail Account

Fionna Agomuoh is a former freelance contributor to Lifewire. Her writing has appeared in Newsweek, International Business Times, and others.

• Western Governors University

Ryan Perian is a certified IT specialist who holds numerous IT certifications and has 12+ years' experience working in the IT industry support and management positions.

What to Know

• Sign in to Yahoo with the deleted email address. Select Next, choose a recovery method (Text or Email), and follow the instructions.
• To confirm the account is deleted, go to the Forgot Username page and enter the email address. Deleted accounts aren't recognized.
• Most Yahoo Mail users have up to 30 days from the time of deletion to recover their accounts.

You have two ways to reactivate your Yahoo account if it wasn't permanently deleted: Go to the Yahoo home page or use the sign-in helper. Here's how Yahoo account recovery works.

How to Reactivate Your Yahoo Account

Here's how to reactivate your account from the Yahoo home page.

1. On the Yahoo homepage, select Sign in.

Enter your Yahoo email address, then select Next.

If your account is recoverable, Select an option appears. Select your method of recovery (Text or Email).

Enter the verification code you received in the text or email message.

Select Continue again.

You may be prompted to confirm your account recovery settings. Select the pencil to edit, or select Add email or mobile no to add accounts. Otherwise, select Looks good to continue.

How to Confirm Your Yahoo Mail Account Has Been Deleted

To see if your Yahoo Mail account has been deleted:

1. Go to the Yahoo account recovery page.
   

In the Email address or phone number field, enter your Yahoo email address, then select Continue.

If your account was permanently deleted, you see the message, Sorry, we don't recognize that email address or phone number.

You have up to 30 days (approximately 90 days for accounts in Australia, India, and New Zealand, and approximately 180 days for accounts registered in Brazil, Hong Kong, and Taiwan) from the time of deletion to recover your account. After that, it is permanently deleted from the Yahoo servers, and you can't recover the account.

How to Reactivate Your Account via Sign-in Helper

If you don't remember your Yahoo Mail password:

1. Go to the Yahoo account recovery page.

Enter your Yahoo mail address in the Email address or phone number field, then select Continue.

Select a verification method (Text or Email).

Enter the verification code you received by text or email message.

If the verification code is entered correctly, you're prompted to create a new password. Select Continue to change your password, or select I'll secure my account later if you know your password.

When you delete your Yahoo account, your emails will be removed and you'll lose access to all data stored in Yahoo's services. Closing your Yahoo account doesn't cancel automatic charges associated with your account, so remember to cancel these subscriptions first.

Yahoo automatically closes your account if you don't log in for over 12 months. Yahoo will also close your account if you violate the Terms of Service.

To recover a deleted email in Yahoo Mail, look for it in the Trash, select it, then click Move > Inbox. If you don't see it, send a restore request to Yahoo.

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