October 12, 2010 (13 years ago)

How To Download Emails from a Yahoo! Mail Free Account with Email Programs Such as Microsoft Outlook


It's rather strange why Yahoo! has given free POP3 access to Yahoo! Mail free accounts that are pointed to Yahoo! Asia in the Regional Site and Language settings. Normally, POP3 is a Yahoo! Mail Plus paid service. Perhaps, this is something temporary, for beta testing purposes. This is definitely a convenience we can enjoy while it lasts as it enable us to download emails from a free Yahoo! Email account to the computer using any email client program such as Microsoft Outlook. It also allows us to send reply emails from an email program as well. We must refrain from abusing it however or it will only last for a short period.

Switch to Yahoo! Asia

Even if you are somewhere in Canada or United States, it is possible to switch to the Asian user settings.

  1. Click on Hi, [your email address] once you are logged in and select Account Info. If available, click on My Account below Hi, [your email address]. This opens a new window where you may be asked to verify your password.
  2. Once verified, you will be taken to the Account Info page. Under Account Settings, click on Set language, site, timezone.
  3. On the Set language, site, time zone page that appears, in Regional Site and Language: select Yahoo! Asia. Select your Time Zone: if necessary. Click on I Accept button.
  4. You will be taken back to the Set language, site, time zone page. Check if Yahoo! Asia appears next to Regional Site and Language:. If not, go back to step two.
  5. Go back to your main Yahoo! Mail window and refresh the page by clicking on refresh button of your browser. You should see "Yahoo! Mail Asia" in the logo area on the top left of the page.

Enable POP3 in Your Free Yahoo! Mail Account

Now that you have set your free Yahoo! Mail account regional setting to Asia, POP3 is available in the account panel! Enabling POP3 allows your favorite email client program such as Microsoft Outlook to download emails from Yahoo or send replies.

  1. On the top left of the main Yahoo! Mail window, click on Options > More Options... In the Options page, select POP & Forwarding tab at left column.
  2. Tick Allow your Yahoo! Mail to be POPed.
      You can select the following options on what to do with spam messages in When POPing my messages dropdown selection:
    • don't POP spam
    • include spam messages
    • include spam messages and add [Bulk] as prefix to subject
  3. Click Save Changes. "Saved changes to POP & Forwarding" should appear below the Save Changes button.

Enable Less Secure Access to Your Yahoo! Mail Account

I know. It sounds like bad advice. This only applies to those old versions of email clients like Microsoft Office Outlook 2010 which do not yet support current security protocols. You will know that you need to enable less secure access when Outlook keeps on asking for your login and password when you try to download emails.

  1. In Yahoo! Mail, go to Account Info.
    • Those using Yahoo! Basic Mail will find Account Info in the dropdown list with the Go button at the top right of the window.
    • Those using Yahoo! Non-Basic Mail will find Account Info in the gear icon dropdown list at the top right of the window.
  2. At left, select the Account security tab. You may be asked to typed in your password.
  3. Enable Allow apps that use less secure sign in by clicking on the switch icon. This should change color from grey to blue.

Yahoo! Email Incoming and Outgoing Server Configuration

These are the configuration settings to be setup in Microsoft Outlook and other email programs to enable downloading or sending of emails with Yahoo! Mail:

Incoming mail server (POP3):
pop.mail.yahoo.com
port:
995
SSL:
enabled
Outgoing mail server (SMTP):
smtp.mail.yahoo.com
port:
465
SSL:
enabled

Yahoo! Mail emails downloading in Microsoft Outlook 2003

Screenshot showing Microsoft Outlook 2003 downloading emails from a Yahoo! Mail free account

Updates
  • 10/06/2016. Added Enable Less Secure Access to Your Yahoo! Mail Account procedure.