Email, Messaging, & Video Calls Email How to Reset Your Yahoo! Email Password A mobile phone number or secondary email address is required By Heinz Tschabitscher Writer A former freelance contributor who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997. our editorial process Heinz Tschabitscher Updated March 24, 2020 Email Yahoo! Mail Gmail Tweet Share Email You have two options to recover access to Yahoo Mail when you forget your password. One option is to reset your password after you receive a verification code by text message on your mobile phone. The other option is to reset your password after you receive a verification code at the secondary email address added to your Yahoo Mail account. Yahoo Mail doesn't send you the lost password; you'll set a new password after you confirm your identity. These instructions are for resetting your Yahoo password from the desktop site. How to Recover Yahoo Email Password 0:57 To reset your Yahoo Mail password, go to the Sign-In Helper page and complete the verification process that works best for you. Enter your email address on the login page and click Next. Select Forgot password? at the bottom of the password page. Choose the Text option if you want to recover your account via text message. If you have an alternative email account set up, you can pick Email instead. If you chose the text message option, enter your phone number and press Submit to receive a code. If you picked the email option, continue to the next step. Locate the verification code from the text or email and enter it on Yahoo's site. Follow any other on-screen prompts. Once you have successfully recovered access to your account, change the Yahoo! Mail password to whatever you like (and will remember); it is best, of course, to use a strong email password. No Mobile Phone or Secondary Email Address If you don't have access to either a secondary email address or phone number, you won't be able to recover access to your Yahoo Mail account through the automated process. Do not post any personal information, such as the Yahoo Mail email address you're trying to regain access to, any of your possible passwords, phone numbers, or anything similar. Your next step is to seek help from Yahoo! Help. Yahoo! support may ask for information to verify your identity, such as contacts in your Yahoo Mail address book. If you are unable to access your Yahoo Mail account using a mobile phone number, a secondary email address, or by contacting Yahoo help, you may have to abandon your old Yahoo Mail account and start a new email account.