How to Download Emails from Yahoo to Computer, Outlook, or PDF
Let’s be honest, most of us don’t think about downloading our Yahoo emails until something forces us to, like accidentally deleting them or an account hack. Maybe your inbox is cluttered, and you’re switching to a different email provider. Whatever the reason, this guide outlines how to download emails from Yahoo step by step. So, let’s begin our discussion!
Why Download Yahoo Emails to Computer?
Saving Yahoo emails offline is needed in several scenarios:
- Create offline backups in case of accidental deletion or account issues
- Migrate Yahoo Mail to Office 365, G Suite, or other platform
- Organise and archive important communication
- Secure old emails before cleaning up the inbox
- Ensure data continuity when the Yahoo account is suspended or hacked.
These are some common reasons why we need a backup of Yahoo data. Now, let’s move to the solutions to save Yahoo emails locally.
How to Download Emails from Yahoo – Top 4 Solutions
Yahoo doesn’t provide any official native tool to save the data locally in the desired formats. Still, I found four techniques to proceed with, which I’ll share further. First, go through these prerequisites:
- Remove spam or irrelevant emails from the mailbox to minimise the time of download
- Organise emails into folders to easily find them later
- Check the hard drive storage space to save the entire data hassle-free
Now, go through these methods to download Yahoo emails simultaneously:
#Method 1. How to Save Emails from Yahoo Using Desktop Email Client
This is a free method, but it requires a desktop-based email client installed on your PC, like Outlook. Additionally, via IMAP settings, we can download Yahoo data through that service.
Confused? Don’t worry, here is the answer to how to download emails from Yahoo:
#Step 1. Enable Yahoo IMAP Access
- Log in to the Yahoo Mail account.
- Hit the Settings option > More Settings.
- Now, click on Mailboxes, and ensure IMAP is enabled.
#Step 2. Generate App Password for Outlook
Yahoo doesn’t allow third-party apps unless you use an app password:
- Open the Yahoo Account Security page
- Click Generate app password and choose Outlook Desktop
- Copy the generated password
#Step 3. Configure Outlook
- Open Microsoft Outlook
- Open File > Add Account
- Enter your Yahoo email address
- When prompted for the password, paste the app password.
Now, your Yahoo data is synced with Outlook, and you can easily export that data in PST format.
Here’s how to download emails from Yahoo:
- Open Outlook, and click on the File option.
- Afterwards, click on the Open & Export > Import/Export
- Select Export to a file and click Next
- Choose Outlook Data File (.pst) and click Next
- Select your Yahoo account folder
- Choose a location to save the PST file and click Finish
Done! Now, with these seven steps, you can easily download newly arrived data; you don’t need to sync the services again.
But if you don’t use Outlook? So, many users are not using MS Outlook, then in their case, they can opt for the next approach.
Also Read: How to Upload PST to Office 365 without Outlook?
#Method 2. How to Download Emails from Yahoo Via Thunderbird
Mozilla Thunderbird is a well-known email client, and most users are familiar with this. Here’s how it will help to save Yahoo emails:
- Download and install it.
- Open Thunderbird and click “Set up an account“
- Choose Email and enter your Yahoo credentials
- Use the IMAP configuration:
- Incoming: imap.mail.yahoo.com, Port: 993, SSL: SSL/TLS
- Outgoing: smtp.mail.yahoo.com, Port: 465 or 587, SSL: SSL/TLS
- Once added, Thunderbird will start syncing your Yahoo mailbox
- Emails are now stored locally in your Thunderbird profile folder
Now, follow the steps to save Yahoo data through Thunderbird:
- In Thunderbird, click on the Help button > More Troubleshooting Information
- Scroll to the Profile Folder section and click Open Folder
- A new window will open showing your Thunderbird profile directory
- Copy the entire Mail or ImapMail folder
- Paste it to a local drive.
Access your data from the destination location where you saved the files. Now, the how to download emails from Yahoo query is resolved.
#Method 3. How to Save Emails from Yahoo as PDFs
If you need to save some files, like 15 to 20, then Yahoo’s manual save option helps you to download files in PDF format directly:
The steps are as follows:
- Open the email to save it in Yahoo
- Click the three dots (…) > Print
- Select Save as PDF
- Save the file to your system
After saving the files as PDF, you can convert them to other formats using third-party tools if needed.
#Method 4. How to Download Emails from Yahoo Simultaneously
Those who are not relying on any desktop-based email client and don’t want to save files as PDFs can opt for SysTools Yahoo Backup Tool for a quick and complete backup.
I used this solution when I needed to back up my organisation’s 1 million emails simultaneously. It saves my data in PST within the expected time.
I suggest you give it a chance for the following reasons:
- Backs up entire mailbox, including Inbox, Sent, and custom folders
- Saves emails in multiple formats like PST, MBOX, EML, MSG, and PDF
- Allows folder selection and date filters for partial backup
- Keeps attachments and email formatting intact
- All domain extensions are supported, like @yahoo.co.uk, @yahoo.co.us, and @yahoo.co.uae.
How to Download Emails from Yahoo: Step-by-Step Instructions
You can try this for free by clicking on the download button. After downloading, open it and follow these guidelines:
- Step 1. Provide Username & App Password to log in the Yahoo.
- Step 2. Select the format in which you need the output.
- Step 3. After selecting the format, e.g., PST, click on the browse button to set the destination.
- Step 4. Click on the Apply Filter option for the desired data download
- Step 5. Hit the Start button to proceed with the downloading task.
Also Read: How to export Office 365 emails to PST?
Author’s Verdict
After experiencing a temporary account lockout once, I wanted a local copy of my Yahoo emails to access them. For the same, I researched and found four solutions. In this article, I shared my experience on how to download emails from Yahoo simultaneously.
Every solution listed above, tried and tested by me, so you can opt for any to download Yahoo emails hassle-free.