Nov 02, 2021
5 min read
Closing an old email account may help you stay organized, but when it comes to Yahoo Mail, it may actually be a security necessity. Of all the data breaches that have rocked the tech world over the last few years, Yahoo really takes the cake. Follow this guide to learn how to delete a Yahoo account permanently.
Note: If you delete your Yahoo account, you will also lose My Yahoo settings, Flickr account and photos, Yahoo Messenger and other data related to your Yahoo account. Before closing down Yahoo email, make sure you download any information you may need in the future. Make sure you're set on the decision to delete your Yahoo! email account.
Congratulations, you’ve just learnt how to delete your Yahoo! account! However, Yahoo says the deletion process takes about 40 days to complete, and it may take longer in certain countries. For accounts registered in Australia or New Zealand, this may take approximately 90 days, and Brazilian or Taiwanese users will have to wait approximately 180 days. It can sometimes be a bit of a chore to delete a Yahoo! account.
After you terminate the account, any emails sent to this Yahoo account will bounce back with a delivery failure message.
If you happen to change your mind during the deletion period, you can still reactivate your account. To do that, simply log in to the account within 40 days (or more for the above-mentioned countries). Once you have reactivated the account, people will be able to send emails to it once again. However, you will not be able to access any emails sent to the account’s address while it was closed. It can be very inconvenient, so once again, make sure you're sure you want to delete your Yahoo! email account.
Yahoo also informs that some of your data “might possibly remain” in its records even after the account is fully terminated. To find out more about which information might be stored, visit Yahoo’s Data Storage and Anonymization support page.
Yahoo has a poor security record, a user can't be blamed for wanting to close their Yahoo! account.
When any of your email addresses get compromised, hackers usually trawl the databases of the stolen login details and try them on other sites. If you happen to reuse the same credentials for several accounts, such data breach would put all of them at risk.
Even if you don’t think that any of your account data might have been stolen, we advise checking how strong is your password and whether it’s been previously exposed in any data breaches. You can do this here.
If you’re tired of Yahoo’s data breaches and the general confusion about its credibility, it may be time to take your online privacy into your own hands.
Want to read more like this?
Get the latest news and tips from NordVPN.
Trending articles
