Can I delete my Yahoo account?
Yes! Anyone who has an account with free email provider Yahoo can delete it at any time. The process itself is very quick, although your account will only be permanently deleted after 30 days.
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Deleting a Yahoo account: quick guide
First of all, note that to delete your Yahoo account you have to use a browser (mobile or desktop), not the Yahoo app. Also, if you have a paid subscription, you can only delete your account 90 days after your subscription has ended.
- Start by opening the Yahoo account termination page in a web browser.
- Read the message that appears and click on the “Continue deleting my account” button to proceed.
- Enter your Yahoo email address and click on “Yes, terminate this account” to confirm.
- At this point your account is deactivated. It will be permanently deleted after 30 days as long as you don’t sign in again in the meantime.
Things you should know before deleting your Yahoo account
Before you go ahead and delete your account, here are a few points to bear in mind. First, note that you can only delete your Yahoo email account if you have no remaining balance. Also, if you have a paid subscription, you can only delete your account 90 days after the end of your subscription.
Second, as you would expect, if you delete your Yahoo account you’ll lose all the data in it, so you’ll probably want to back up your contacts and emails first. Finally, be aware that once your account is deleted, somebody else could choose to open an account using your (old) username.
For users of the Yahoo app
You can delete your Yahoo email account on either a phone or a computer, but in both cases you have to use a browser. In other words, even if you’ve got the Yahoo Mail app on your phone, you have to open the Yahoo website in your mobile browser and delete your account there (see below for step-by-step instructions). Once you’ve deleted your account, you can uninstall the Yahoo app from your phone if you want to.
The Yahoo Mail app lets you manage multiple email accounts. You can remove accounts from the app whenever you want, but this isn’t the same as deleting them.
How to delete your Yahoo account on the website
You can use any Internet browser to delete your Yahoo account. Simply follow these steps:
- Go to the Yahoo account termination page and sign in using your email address and password.
- You’ll see a long message explaining exactly what will happen if you choose to delete your Yahoo account. Read it carefully, and if you’re happy with everything, click on “Continue deleting my account”.
- You’ll then be asked one final time whether you’re sure you want to delete your account. To confirm, enter your email address and click on “Yes, terminate this account”.
Deletion or deactivation: what’s the difference?
When you tell Yahoo to delete your account, your account isn’t actually deleted immediately; it’s just deactivated. In most countries, Yahoo permanently deletes deactivated accounts after 30 days. In some places this is extended to 90 days (Australia, New Zealand) or even 180 days (Brazil, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India). The advantage of this is that if you change your mind before this deadline, you can reactivate your account simply by logging in again. Once the time limit has passed, you can check that your account has definitely been deleted by trying to log in. If you can’t, then your account no longer exists.