Can You See Old Emails on Yahoo?

By Brian Hooper

Yahoo's Web-based email service lets you retrieve some old emails.
i Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Because Yahoo Mail gives you unlimited storage space and doesn’t delete old messages unless you do, you can always find old emails by searching your inbox or sent folder. If you accidentally deleted emails or feel you've lost some for an unknown reason, Yahoo has a restore process for you to get them back by restoring your mailbox to an earlier time. There are caveats, however. You’ll lose any existing email because you’re essentially going back in time. You can only retrieve a message that’s been lost within the last 48 hours. You can’t specify a time frame, such as a particular week, for instance.

Step 1

Log in to your Yahoo Mail account and click on the gear icon.

Step 2

Select "Help" from the menu options.

Step 3

Enter “Restore lost or deleted emails” in the Search Help field.

Step 4

Click on “Restore lost or deleted emails or IMs” from the list of results.

Step 5

Click on the “Restore help” link at the end of the article on the “Restore lost or deleted emails or IMs” page (or just use the link in Resources).

Step 6

Click on the “Describe the problem” drop-down menu from the “Yahoo! Mail/Messenger Restore Help Form” page and select a reason.

Step 7

Click on the “Hours” drop-down menu under “When did you last see the missing messages?” and make a selection.

Step 8

Enter your name in the Name field under “What is your name and Yahoo ID for the account you wish to restore?” and click “Submit.” Yahoo will retrieve messages from the earlier period requested and display them in your inbox.

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