As Yahoo takes the security of the users’ information and accounts seriously, it usually blocks access to Yahoo Mail from outdated applications that have the potential of making user accounts vulnerable to online threats. In case you ever receive an email from Yahoo indicating that your application is using outdated security protocols or in case you are not able to access your Yahoo Mail account using an older application, there are certain options that you consider trying.
Password Errors and Access Problems
If you are looking to access your Yahoo Mail account in a third-party email application using a less secure sign-in technology, you might receive a “Server password has changed” or an “Authentication failed” error message on your screen. These errors generally occur because those email applications might be using outdated security protocols which Yahoo has disabled access to for various security reasons.
Use a Secure Option to Access Your Yahoo Mail
In case you are unable to access your Yahoo Mail account on your email application, there are certain options to keep using your Yahoo Mail securely and without any kind of errors and issues.
- One of the best ways to access your Yahoo Mail account security is through the Yahoo Mail website. Simply go to the mail.yahoo.com page and enter your login credentials to sign in to your Yahoo Mail account.
- Another ideal way to securely access your Yahoo Mail account is to consider installing the Yahoo Mail app on your iOS or Android. Just go to the application store of your device (Play Store for Android devices and App Store for iOS devices).
Generally, the above-mentioned options are ideally suggested to securely access your Yahoo Mail account, however, you can also consider using an app password to access your account. Yahoo Mail allows you to access your email account on third-party email clients securely by providing an app password. You can generate an app password for your particular email clients in the Account security section of your Yahoo Mail account.
You can keep using your current application, however, you will need to follow perform a certain process to ensure that your email application is syncing with Yahoo’s secure sign-in method. Moreover, it is to be noted that not all third-party email apps are supported by Yahoo.
Using an App Password
If you have secured your Yahoo Mail account using Yahoo two-step verification, Account Key, or an older email application, you might have to use an app-specific password to access your Yahoo Mail. You just need to remember that app passwords are applicable only for the application they are generated for, and they will remain valid until you log out or remove access to your Yahoo Mail account to the app.
To Generate Third-Party App Passwords in Yahoo Mail
- Sign in to your Yahoo account and click on your Profile picture located near the top-right corner of the screen.
- From the drop-down menu, select the Account info option.
- In the Account info section, you will need to click on the Account security page.
- Under the Account security option, you will need to select the Generate app password or Manage app passwords option.
- Next, you will need to select your application from the drop-down menu and press the Generate option.
- After that, simply follow the on-screen prompts and click on the Done button. Once you have generated the app password, you can use it to access your Yahoo Mail account on a third-party email application.
If you wish to prefer accessing your Yahoo Mail account on your current third-party email application, also on your default email application on your mobile device, you can follow the steps provided below.
NOTE: The following steps are provided for accessing your Yahoo via the Windows Mail program. The instructions may vary depending on the email program you are looking to access your Yahoo Mail account on.
Accessing Yahoo Mail via Windows Mail
NOTE: You will first need to remove your Yahoo account and add it again to your Windows Mail program to activate the secure sign-in method. Below are the steps that you will need to follow afterwards.
- In your Windows Mail application, go to the navigation page and click on the Settings option.
- Next, you will need to click on the Manage Accounts options and select the Add Account option.
- Then, you will need to tap on the Yahoo logo in the Choose an account option to activate the secure sign-in method.
So, these are the steps that you will need to follow to securely access your Yahoo Mail account through different methods.