# Yahoo Mail
**Yahoo Mail** is a free web-based email service launched in 1997, now operated by Yahoo[1](https://zapier.com/blog/yahoo-vs-gmail/). Yahoo states that one in three Americans use the service every month[2](https://www.yahooinc.com/press/yahoo-mail-redesigns-the-inbox-for-a-cleaner-smarter-and-simpler-experience).
| Key facts | Details |
|---|---|
| Free storage | 20 GB per account, reduced from the 1 TB Yahoo previously offered[3](https://help.yahoo.com/kb/yahoo-mail-storage-faq-sln37064.html) • [4](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/e-mail/technical-matters/free-e-mail-providers/) |
| Paid tiers | 100 GB at $1.99/month, 1 TB at $9.99/month; Yahoo Mail Plus at $5/month adds 200 GB and removes ads[5](https://mail.yahoo.com/subscriptions/mail/storage) • [6](https://mail.yahoo.com/plus/mail) |
| Protocols | IMAP at export.imap.mail.yahoo.com:993 and SMTP at smtp.mail.yahoo.com:465 or 587, both requiring SSL; app passwords required for Account Key users and older apps[7](https://help.yahoo.com/kb/new-yahoo-mail/manually-download-yahoo-emails-sln28681.html) |
| Inactivity rule | A mailbox not accessed for 12 months may have its contents deleted under Yahoo's inactivity policy, after reminders at 90, 60, and 30 days[8](https://nerdbible.com/identity-theft-protection/articles/best-free-email-services) |
| Breach history | The August 2013 theft covered all 3 billion then-existing accounts; a November 2014 breach covered about 500 million; forged cookies exposed about 32 million accounts from 2015 to September 2016[9](https://yahoodatabreachsettlement.com/en/home/faqs) |
| U.S. usage | 34% of surveyed U.S. email users used Yahoo Mail daily to once a month in a January 2023 to July 2024 survey, ahead of Gmail at 33% and Outlook.com at 15%[10](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1481802/frequency-use-email-services-us/) |
| Encryption | HTTPS by default since January 8, 2014, with 2,048-bit certificates across web, mobile, IMAP, POP, and SMTP; no S/MIME content encryption[11](https://www.networkworld.com/article/685153/byod-as-yahoo-makes-encryption-standard-for-email-weak-implementation-seen.html) • [12](https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/best-email-services-for-security-and-privacy-052725.html) |
## Features and interface
The current service combines a conventional folder-and-filter webmail client with AI features. Attachments are limited to 25 MB per message in both directions[8](https://nerdbible.com/identity-theft-protection/articles/best-free-email-services). Users can link other email accounts, including Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, and AOL, into a Yahoo Mail inbox[13](https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/11/24175280/yahoo-mail-generative-ai-gmail).
**Disposable addresses.** Standard accounts can create up to 3 temporary email addresses for sign-ups and one-time use; Yahoo Mail Plus raises this to 500, deletable at any time[6](https://mail.yahoo.com/plus/mail).
**AI features.** In summer 2023 Yahoo added generative AI capabilities including an improved search mode, a Shopping Save feature for finding forgotten gift cards and discount codes, and a writing assistant[13](https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/11/24175280/yahoo-mail-generative-ai-gmail). The June 2024 desktop redesign added a Priority inbox tab with AI-generated one-line summaries of each email, a feature Yahoo says it is the first email provider to offer[2](https://www.yahooinc.com/press/yahoo-mail-redesigns-the-inbox-for-a-cleaner-smarter-and-simpler-experience). In 2025 Yahoo introduced Planner, which unifies email, calendar, and task management and turns messages into actionable plans using the Yahoo Scout Intelligence Platform[14](https://www.yahooinc.com/press/yahoo-mail-introduces-planner-an-ai-powered-personal-productivity-hub), and a gamified Catch Up feature that presents AI summaries and previews with delete or keep-in-inbox choices[15](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-12/yahoo-tries-to-make-its-mail-service-relevant-again-with-ai).
## Accounts, access, and pricing
Storage tiers are 20 GB free, 100 GB at $1.99 per month, and 1 TB at $9.99 per month[5](https://mail.yahoo.com/subscriptions/mail/storage). Yahoo Mail Plus costs $5 per month and includes an ad-free experience, 200 GB of storage, auto-forwarding of incoming messages to another account, and a continuous-account guarantee so the mailbox does not expire during long inactivity[6](https://mail.yahoo.com/plus/mail). Combining Plus with the 1 TB add-on reaches the service maximum of 1.2 TB[5](https://mail.yahoo.com/subscriptions/mail/storage). A full mailbox blocks both sending and receiving, and mail sent while the box is full is not stored and cannot be recovered[3](https://help.yahoo.com/kb/yahoo-mail-storage-faq-sln37064.html).
**Protocol access.** Third-party clients retrieve mail over IMAP from export.imap.mail.yahoo.com on port 993 with SSL required, and send over SMTP through smtp.mail.yahoo.com on port 465 or 587 with SSL and authentication required[7](https://help.yahoo.com/kb/new-yahoo-mail/manually-download-yahoo-emails-sln28681.html). Accounts using Yahoo Account Key, or older email apps, must generate an app password and use it in place of the account password for IMAP login[7](https://help.yahoo.com/kb/new-yahoo-mail/manually-download-yahoo-emails-sln28681.html). Folders holding 100,000 or more messages may not download completely over IMAP[7](https://help.yahoo.com/kb/new-yahoo-mail/manually-download-yahoo-emails-sln28681.html). Auto-forwarding is now a Yahoo Mail Plus feature rather than a free one[6](https://mail.yahoo.com/plus/mail).
**Inactivity deletion.** If a mailbox is not accessed for 12 months, its emails, folders, and contacts may be deleted under Yahoo's inactivity policy, following reminder notices at 90, 60, and 30 days[8](https://nerdbible.com/identity-theft-protection/articles/best-free-email-services). Yahoo's help documentation states that messages on accounts inactive for 12 months or more may be subject to deletion under its inactivity policies[3](https://help.yahoo.com/kb/yahoo-mail-storage-faq-sln37064.html).
## Security and privacy
Yahoo enabled full-session HTTPS encryption for Yahoo Mail by default on January 8, 2014, after opt-in support from late 2012; Jeff Bonforte stated that web, mobile web, mobile app, IMAP, POP, and SMTP connections were all encrypted with 2,048-bit certificates[11](https://www.networkworld.com/article/685153/byod-as-yahoo-makes-encryption-standard-for-email-weak-implementation-seen.html). At the time, [Qualys](https://www.edgepedia.org/qualys) researcher Ivan Ristic found the implementation inconsistent across servers, with no forward secrecy on the servers checked[11](https://www.networkworld.com/article/685153/byod-as-yahoo-makes-encryption-standard-for-email-weak-implementation-seen.html). Yahoo Mail does not offer S/MIME content encryption; SSL/TLS protects connections between servers and between user and server, but message content itself is not encrypted by S/MIME[12](https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/best-email-services-for-security-and-privacy-052725.html). Users can ensure encryption to their mail server but have no control over transport encryption between servers[16](https://arxiv.org/html/1804.07706).
**The 2013 to 2016 breaches.** In August 2013 attackers accessed Yahoo's user database and took records for approximately 3 billion accounts worldwide, including names, email addresses, telephone numbers, birth dates, passwords, and security questions and answers[9](https://yahoodatabreachsettlement.com/en/home/faqs). Yahoo initially disclosed about 1 billion affected accounts in December 2016 and tripled that estimate in October 2017, the largest breach then known[17](https://www.reuters.com/article/technology/yahoo-says-all-three-billion-accounts-hacked-in-2013-data-theft-idUSKCN1C82NV/). A separate November 2014 breach affected approximately 500 million accounts with the same categories of data[9](https://yahoodatabreachsettlement.com/en/home/faqs). From 2015 to September 2016, attackers used forged cookies to access about 32 million accounts without needing passwords[9](https://yahoodatabreachsettlement.com/en/home/faqs). The resulting class settlement provided credit monitoring or cash alternatives, fraud resolution services, reimbursement of out-of-pocket losses, and security commitments including encryption of user database backup files and enhanced intrusion detection[9](https://yahoodatabreachsettlement.com/en/home/faqs). A leaked NSA document also showed that in a single day in 2012 the agency collected over 440,000 Yahoo email address books, compared with about 100,000 from Hotmail, 82,000 from Facebook, and 33,000 from Gmail[11](https://www.networkworld.com/article/685153/byod-as-yahoo-makes-encryption-standard-for-email-weak-implementation-seen.html).
**Message scanning litigation.** Plaintiffs alleged Yahoo violated the federal [Stored Communications Act](https://www.edgepedia.org/stored-communications-act) and the California Invasion of Privacy Act during a one-month 2013 test of Google's AdSense for Content that scanned Yahoo Mail messages[18](https://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2129&context=historical).
**Account security today.** Google has enabled passkey support and Yahoo is rolling it out; Yahoo's Account Key, a stripped-down two-factor variant, is no longer open to new accounts[1](https://zapier.com/blog/yahoo-vs-gmail/).
## Advertising and business model
Advertising is the primary revenue model, with Yahoo Analytics and Advertising Insights collecting data across Yahoo products for ad targeting[19](https://your99.co/research/email-clients). The free tier is ad-supported, and notably the 20 GB, 100 GB, and 1 TB storage plans all include ads, which Yahoo says allows it to keep prices low[5](https://mail.yahoo.com/subscriptions/mail/storage). Only Yahoo Mail Plus removes ads[6](https://mail.yahoo.com/plus/mail). The web version now shows mainly banner ads, but the mobile app still shows ads occupying almost half the screen[1](https://zapier.com/blog/yahoo-vs-gmail/). New ad formats are tied to the AI features: Planner launched alongside a Sponsored Events format, with [H&R Block](https://www.edgepedia.org/h-and-r-block) as the first brand partner surfacing tax deadlines and filing reminders[14](https://www.yahooinc.com/press/yahoo-mail-introduces-planner-an-ai-powered-personal-productivity-hub).
## Usage and market position
Measured user-base figures vary by methodology. A survey run between January 2023 and July 2024 found 34% of U.S. email users used Yahoo Mail daily to once a month, the highest frequency among listed services, with Gmail at 33% and [Microsoft Outlook](https://www.edgepedia.org/microsoft-outlook).com at 15%[10](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1481802/frequency-use-email-services-us/). By absolute scale the gap is much wider: Gmail reportedly has 1.8 billion active users while Yahoo Mail has around 225 million active users per month[1](https://zapier.com/blog/yahoo-vs-gmail/). Yahoo's own claim that one in three Americans use the service every month is not directly reconcilable with the 225 million figure, and the two numbers reflect different measurement methods[2](https://www.yahooinc.com/press/yahoo-mail-redesigns-the-inbox-for-a-cleaner-smarter-and-simpler-experience) • [1](https://zapier.com/blog/yahoo-vs-gmail/).
Yahoo's internal data indicates around half of its email users are [Millennials](https://www.edgepedia.org/millennials) or Gen Z; a Pollfish survey of 1,000 U.S. respondents from those generations found nearly 50% claimed to have missed important events because of messy inboxes, despite 70% claiming to check email multiple times a day[20](https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/yahoos-ai-powered-email-sorting-feature-helps-you-catch-up-how-it-works/).
## How it compares with Gmail and Outlook.com
On storage, Yahoo's 20 GB free quota now exceeds Gmail's 15 GB shared across Drive and Photos and Outlook.com's 15 GB mailbox plus 5 GB cloud storage, though it is far below the 1 TB Yahoo once offered[8](https://nerdbible.com/identity-theft-protection/articles/best-free-email-services) • [4](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/e-mail/technical-matters/free-e-mail-providers/). On AI, Yahoo's Priority inbox summaries with bulleted task lists are free, whereas Gmail's comparable summaries feature is paywalled for Workspace and Google One AI Premium subscribers[13](https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/11/24175280/yahoo-mail-generative-ai-gmail). On security, both services encrypt connections with SSL/TLS, and Yahoo does not offer S/MIME content encryption[12](https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/best-email-services-for-security-and-privacy-052725.html). Yahoo's AI features were themselves built using Google Cloud's AI platform[1](https://zapier.com/blog/yahoo-vs-gmail/).
## Recent developments
The most consequential change is the storage cut from 1 TB to 20 GB for free accounts, which Yahoo's own help pages confirm and which reverses the quota that had distinguished Yahoo Mail for years[3](https://help.yahoo.com/kb/yahoo-mail-storage-faq-sln37064.html) • [4](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/e-mail/technical-matters/free-e-mail-providers/). In June 2024 Yahoo rolled out its most significant desktop redesign in nearly a decade, adding the Priority inbox with AI summaries, initially to new U.S. users with existing users able to opt in over the following months[2](https://www.yahooinc.com/press/yahoo-mail-redesigns-the-inbox-for-a-cleaner-smarter-and-simpler-experience). Mobile AI features followed through 2024 and 2025, including Planner and Catch Up[14](https://www.yahooinc.com/press/yahoo-mail-introduces-planner-an-ai-powered-personal-productivity-hub) • [15](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-12/yahoo-tries-to-make-its-mail-service-relevant-again-with-ai). Updated Terms of Service from March 2025 allow data sharing with third-party AI providers[19](https://your99.co/research/email-clients), and passkey support is rolling out[1](https://zapier.com/blog/yahoo-vs-gmail/).
## References
1. [Yahoo Mail vs. Gmail: Which should you use? [2025], Zapier](https://zapier.com/blog/yahoo-vs-gmail/)
2. [Yahoo Mail Redesigns The Inbox For A Cleaner, Smarter And Simpler Experience, Yahoo Inc.](https://www.yahooinc.com/press/yahoo-mail-redesigns-the-inbox-for-a-cleaner-smarter-and-simpler-experience)
3. [Yahoo Mail Storage FAQ, Yahoo Help](https://help.yahoo.com/kb/yahoo-mail-storage-faq-sln37064.html)
4. [Which are the best free email providers?, IONOS Digital Guide](https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/e-mail/technical-matters/free-e-mail-providers/)
5. [Mail Storage | Yahoo Mail](https://mail.yahoo.com/subscriptions/mail/storage)
6. [Ad-Free Email & 200 GB Storage | Yahoo Mail Plus](https://mail.yahoo.com/plus/mail)
7. [Download your email from Yahoo Mail with IMAP, Yahoo Help](https://help.yahoo.com/kb/new-yahoo-mail/manually-download-yahoo-emails-sln28681.html)
8. [Best free email services compared, NerdBible](https://nerdbible.com/identity-theft-protection/articles/best-free-email-services)
9. [Yahoo! Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation Settlement FAQs](https://yahoodatabreachsettlement.com/en/home/faqs)
10. [Use of e-mail services U.S. by frequency 2024, Statista](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1481802/frequency-use-email-services-us/)
11. [As Yahoo makes encryption standard for email, weak implementation seen, Network World](https://www.networkworld.com/article/685153/byod-as-yahoo-makes-encryption-standard-for-email-weak-implementation-seen.html)
12. [Best email services for security and privacy, ConsumerAffairs](https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/best-email-services-for-security-and-privacy-052725.html)
13. [Yahoo Mail is adding more AI to simplify desktop email, The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/11/24175280/yahoo-mail-generative-ai-gmail)
14. [Yahoo Mail Introduces Planner, an AI-Powered Personal Productivity Hub, Yahoo Inc.](https://www.yahooinc.com/press/yahoo-mail-introduces-planner-an-ai-powered-personal-productivity-hub)
15. [Yahoo Adds New AI Features to Mail App in Attempt to Up Usage, Bloomberg](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-12/yahoo-tries-to-make-its-mail-service-relevant-again-with-ai)
16. [SoK: Securing Email, A Stakeholder-Based Analysis, arXiv](https://arxiv.org/html/1804.07706)
17. [Yahoo says all three billion accounts hacked in 2013 data theft, Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/article/technology/yahoo-says-all-three-billion-accounts-hacked-in-2013-data-theft-idUSKCN1C82NV/)
18. [In re Yahoo Mail Litigation, Santa Clara University Digital Commons](https://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2129&context=historical)
19. [Email Clients — Category Research Report, your99.co](https://your99.co/research/email-clients)
20. [Yahoo's AI-Powered Email Sorting Feature Helps You 'Catch Up'. How It Works, CNET](https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/yahoos-ai-powered-email-sorting-feature-helps-you-catch-up-how-it-works/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Computing and digital systems › Software and programming › Named software products and platforms › Search, maps, email, and productivity services › Email and communication services*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 15, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Oct 15, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license