How to delete your Yahoo account

If your Yahoo! Mail inbox has been overrun by marketing and other promotional materials, or if you simply want to consolidate your email accounts, then you may want to delete your Yahoo account. It is a rather simple process that you may want to consider. In a world where email services like Google have become much more fashionable, you might also simply want to jump ship to stay current.

So how exactly do you delete Yahoo accounts? It’s actually pretty easy.

How to Delete Yahoo Accounts

Before we begin to close the account, you should think about any services or other accounts that you have made using the Yahoo email address. Any of these will also be lost when you choose to close the account. So back up your Flickr photos, and let’s get cracking!

1. Before closing the account, Yahoo would like to tell you that you must disable the Yahoo Account Key if you made one previously.

2. Once that is done, let’s go to the Yahoo! account termination page. Sign in with your Yahoo ID and password, then read all about the termination process.

3. Click continue, and it will want you to confirm your account details once more, then finally click “Yes, terminate this account.”

What if I change my mind?

Don’t worry if you realize that you forgot to remove your Yahoo account from some other service, or for any other reason. Thankfully, you will have 40 days from the time you click the delete button to sign back in, thus cancelling the termination process. Note that users in Australia or New Zealand have 90 days to sign back in, and users in Brazil or Taiwan have up to 180 days.

Do keep in mind, however, that while your account is in limbo, people who send emails to that account will be notified that their email could not be sent because the addressee’s account is no longer active. If you sign in within the 40 days, you will not be able to retrieve any emails sent to you between the time you chose to terminate and the time you signed back in.

What happens to my Yahoo email address and account after that?

While you are protected for 40 days (or longer, depending on market), after that, your account name and email address are released back to Yahoo. That means that anyone interested in your previous email address can then sign up for it. That’s why it is important to let crucial contacts know you are no longer using a specific email address, otherwise the new owner could end up getting your leftover bits of mail from any contact that doesn’t realize you no longer own that email account.

We hope that this helps you to live a more organized life without the hassle of too many email accounts! Express your feelings about closing your account with the community in the comments below.