Is your Yahoo Mail inbox overflowing with old memories, important documents, or just plain digital clutter? You might not think it’s a problem now, but a recent policy change from Yahoo is putting millions of accounts at risk. If you don’t take immediate action, you could lose the ability to send and receive new emails—or worse, lose your entire account forever. Here’s what you need to do to keep your Yahoo mail active and working seamlessly.
Yahoo Mail’s new storage rules could cut you off
If your Yahoo inbox is swarming with a decade’s worth of digital life, you’re not alone. A recent email from Yahoo is causing a stir, and many people are wondering if it’s a legitimate warning or just another phishing scam. The message claims you’ve hit your free storage limit and could lose access to your email unless you act fast.
Well, the truth is, the message is real—and the deadline is too. Starting August 27, 2025, Yahoo is implementing a major policy change for its free accounts. If your inbox is still over the limit by that date, you’ll be blocked from sending and receiving new mail.
This change is part of a larger strategy by Yahoo to encourage users to either clean out their inboxes or upgrade to a paid plan. Previously, free Yahoo Mail accounts offered a very generous 1 TB of storage. The new policy slashes that to just 20 GB, and the company is now making it clear that going over that limit has consequences.
For those who need more space, Yahoo offers a range of paid options:
- Yahoo Mail Storage Plans: These plans are for users who just need more space. Options include 100 GB for $1.99/month or 1 TB for $9.99/month.
- Yahoo Mail Plus: This premium service includes 200 GB of storage, along with an ad-free inbox, enhanced privacy features, and priority customer support. You can even combine this with a storage plan to get a total of up to 1.2 TB.
But before you click and pay, it’s worth considering your options. You can either take the time to clean up your account and stay on the free plan or decide if a paid upgrade is worth it for you.
How to free up space in your Yahoo Mail account
To keep your Yahoo Mail account active and avoid paying for a storage upgrade, you’ll need to reduce your email footprint. Simply deleting emails from your inbox isn’t enough; you must also permanently remove them from your trash and spam folders. Here’s a step-by-step guide to clearing out your account.
1. Use Yahoo’s cleanup tools to target large emails
The quickest way to free up significant space is to delete the largest files first. Since Yahoo doesn’t offer a dedicated storage manager, you’ll need to use its search function to find and delete emails with large attachments.
For the new Yahoo Mail interface:
- Find large attachments: In the search bar at the top of the page, type has:attachment larger:10MB (or whatever size you prefer, like 5MB or 20MB). This will pull up all emails with attachments that are larger than 10MB.
- Delete in bulk: Select the emails you want to remove using the checkboxes and click the “Delete” icon at the top of the page.
For the older Yahoo Mail interface:
- Filter for attachments: In the search bar, click the “Advanced” arrow.
- Check the “Has attachment” box to filter your emails.
- Delete as needed: Review the results, select the emails you want to get rid of, and click “Delete.”
While you can’t sort search results by file size in the new Yahoo Mail, targeting emails with attachments is the most effective way to clear a lot of space quickly. You’ll have to manually scroll through and delete them.
2. Empty your trash and spam folders
Even after you delete an email, it still counts toward your storage limit until you permanently remove it from your Trash and Spam folders.
On a desktop web browser:
- Empty Trash: Click the Trash folder in the left sidebar, then select “Empty Trash” at the top of the folder.
- Empty Spam: Click the Spam folder, then select “Delete all spam messages.”
On the Yahoo Mail mobile app:
- Open the menu: Tap the menu icon (☰) in the top-left corner.
- Empty Trash or Spam: Select the Trash or Spam folder, tap the three dots (•••) in the top-right corner, and choose “Empty folder.”
Leaving Yahoo Mail? Here’s how to make a smooth transition
Annoyed by Yahoo Mail’s new paid features? You don’t have to be stuck. If it’s time to consider a fresh start, here’s what you can do:
1. Back up your important emails
Before you leave Yahoo, make sure you save any emails you need. You can do this in a couple of simple ways.
Option 1: Forward important emails to a new account
This is the fastest and easiest method, requiring no special tech skills. Simply open the email you want to save, click “Forward,” and send it to your new email address. To stay organized, consider creating a special folder in your new inbox just for these forwarded messages.
Option 2: Download emails as files
If you want an offline backup, you can save individual emails to your computer.
- Open the email you want to save in Yahoo Mail.
- Click the “More” menu (the three dots icon).
- Select “View Raw Message.”
- Use Ctrl+S (on Windows) or Cmd+S (on Mac) to save the file to your computer. You can then store it on your desktop, an external hard drive, or cloud storage like Google Drive.
2. Set up auto-forwarding to a new email service
If you want to transition slowly and make sure you don’t miss any messages, you can automatically forward all your Yahoo emails to a new address. This can only be done on a desktop browser.
- Log into Yahoo Mail and click the Settings icon (gear) in the top-right corner.
- Click “More Settings,” then select “Mailboxes” from the left sidebar.
- Click on your Yahoo email address and scroll down to the “Forwarding” section.
- Enter your new email address and choose whether you want to “Store and forward” (to keep a copy in your Yahoo account) or “Forward only.”
- Yahoo will send a verification email to your new address. Open that email and click the link to complete the setup.
This feature will not work until you verify the new email address. Also, some spam messages might not be forwarded, so it’s a good idea to check both inboxes for a while.
3. Choose a new email service
When you’re ready to make the switch, consider a provider that better fits your needs. Many modern email services offer enhanced privacy features, clutter-free interfaces, and better integration with other tools. They can also offer a greater sense of security and more robust features, often for free.
The clock is ticking for Yahoo Mail users
To recap, Yahoo Mail’s big storage policy shift is forcing millions of users to make a choice. You can clean up your inbox and stay within the new 20 GB free limit, pay for more space and premium features, or move your messages to a new provider altogether.
The worst move? Doing nothing. On August 27, 2025, accounts still over the limit will lose the ability to send or receive emails—potentially locking you out of years of messages, attachments, and contacts. Whether you stay, upgrade, or switch, the key is to act now so you’re not scrambling when the deadline hits.
Source: Fox News