Email, Messaging, & Video Calls Email How to Recovery/Reactivate an Old Yahoo! Mail Account You can (probably) get it back as long as you meet the right timelines by Fionna Agomuoh Writer Fionna Agomuoh is a former freelance contributor to Lifewire. Her writing has appeared in Newsweek, International Business Times, and others. our editorial process Twitter LinkedIn Fionna Agomuoh Updated on October 22, 2020 reviewed by Ryan Perian Lifewire Tech Review Board Member 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. our review board Article reviewed on Aug 20, 2020 Ryan Perian Email Yahoo! Mail Gmail Tweet Share Email Did you delete your Yahoo email account to pare down the number of accounts you have online? If you want the account back, you may be able to recover it before it's permanently deleted from the Yahoo servers. Here's how Yahoo account recovery works and how to easily recover a deleted account. The instructions in this article apply to the desktop version of Yahoo Mail. How to Confirm Your Yahoo Mail Account Has Been Deleted If you want to see if your Yahoo Mail account has been deleted, do the following: Most Yahoo Mail users 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 their account. After that point, it will be permanently deleted from the Yahoo servers, and you won't be able to recover the account. Open a web browser, then go to https://login.yahoo.com/forgot. 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. How to Reactivate Your Yahoo Account You have two ways to reactivate your Yahoo account if it wasn't permanently deleted. You can either go to the Yahoo homepage or use the Sign-in helper. Here's how to reactivate your account from the Yahoo homepage. Go to the Yahoo homepage and select Sign in. Enter your Yahoo email address, then select Next. If your account is recoverable, Select an option appears. From here, select your method of recovery (choose either Text or Email). Enter the verification code you received in the text or email message. If the verification code is entered correctly, you're prompted to create a new password. Select Continue to change the password. Once successful, 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 additional accounts. Otherwise, select Looks good to continue. How to Reactivate Your Account via Sign-in Helper If you don't remember your Yahoo Mail password, follow these steps: Open a web browser and go to https://login.yahoo.com/forgot. Enter your Yahoo mail address in the Email address or phone number field, then select Continue. Select a verification method. Choose either 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.