How to backup Yahoo email to a hard drive, folders included

To backup Yahoo email you need a desktop client, because Yahoo Mail has no export button and no equivalent of Google Takeout. This page walks through the three working methods: Thunderbird for MBOX and EML files, Outlook for a PST, and PDF copies of the messages that matter, plus how to check the backup and restore it. The PDF step uses a free converter that runs in your browser and uploads nothing.

Why a Yahoo mail backup has to be done by hand

Yahoo's privacy dashboard lets you download account data, but not your messages in a usable form, and the web interface has no "export mailbox" command. Yahoo also deactivates accounts that go unused for an extended period, and free accounts have a storage cap that eventually stops new mail. If the correspondence in a Yahoo or AOL account matters, the only safe copy is one on your own drive.

The good news is that Yahoo supports IMAP, the same protocol every desktop client speaks. A client can download every folder, and once the mail is in a client, saving it as files is routine. The three methods below build on that.

Have the email as a file (EML, MSG, MBOX)? Convert it to PDF in your browser: nothing is uploaded.

Before you start: create a Yahoo app password

Yahoo does not accept your normal password from third-party apps. You generate a separate app password once and use it in the client.

1. Sign in to Yahoo Mail on the web, click your name or avatar, and open Account Info.
2. Choose Security in the left menu, then Generate app password (sometimes labeled Generate and manage app passwords).
3. Type a name for the app, such as "Mail backup", and click Generate. Copy the password; it is shown only once.

Settings you may need to type by hand: incoming server imap.mail.yahoo.com, port 993, SSL; outgoing server smtp.mail.yahoo.com, port 465, SSL. AOL accounts use imap.aol.com and smtp.aol.com with the same ports.

Method 1: backup Yahoo email folders to a hard drive with Thunderbird

Thunderbird is free, runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, and stores each folder as an MBOX file, so the backup is simply a copy of a directory.

1. Install Thunderbird and open Account Settings, Account Actions, Add Mail Account.
2. Enter your name, your Yahoo address and the app password. Thunderbird detects the Yahoo IMAP settings; confirm and finish.
3. In the folder pane, right-click the account, choose Subscribe, and tick every folder you want, including Archive and any custom folders.
4. Open each folder once and wait for the download to finish. To force full offline copies, open Account Settings, Synchronization & Storage, and enable "Keep messages for this account on this computer".
5. Close Thunderbird. Open the profile directory (Help, Troubleshooting Information, Profile Directory) and copy the folder ImapMail, imap.mail.yahoo.com to your external hard drive. Each file without an extension inside it is an MBOX of one Yahoo folder.
6. For individual messages as separate files, select them in Thunderbird and use File, Save As; you get one .eml per message, which opens without Thunderbird later.

Repeat step 5 monthly, or leave Thunderbird running and let the folder stay in sync. Note that deleting a message in Thunderbird also deletes it on Yahoo; the copied MBOX on the drive is what protects you.

Method 2: backup Yahoo mail to a PST file with Outlook

If Outlook desktop is already installed, it produces a single PST file that holds every folder and restores into any later Outlook.

1. In Outlook, open File, Add Account, enter the Yahoo address, and when prompted use the app password. Choose IMAP if Outlook asks for the account type.
2. Let Outlook finish synchronizing; large accounts can take an hour or more.
3. Open File, Open & Export, Import/Export, Export to a file, Outlook Data File (.pst). Select the Yahoo account at the top so subfolders are included, and save the PST to your hard drive.
4. For a few messages as files, drag them from Outlook to a desktop folder; each becomes a .msg file.

A PST can only be opened by Outlook, which is fine for restoring but awkward for reading on a phone or sharing with someone else; see how to open a PST file. That is why the next method exists.

Method 3: PDF copies of the messages that matter

A backup you cannot read is only half useful. For receipts, contracts, medical correspondence or anything you may need to hand to another person, make PDFs.

1. Inside Yahoo Mail, open the message, click the three dots, choose Print, and select Save as PDF. One message per PDF, attachments not included.
2. For the files you exported in Method 1 or 2, drop the .eml, .msg or MBOX file on the SaveMail converter. The message renders in your browser tab with the full header block (From, To, Cc, Date, Subject, Message-ID), the body with inline images, and a list of attachments with names and sizes.
3. Press Save as PDF. The text stays selectable and searchable; page size and margins come from the print dialog. Download the attachments singly or as a ZIP and keep them beside the PDF.
4. For an MBOX, the converter lists every message in the folder so you can open and save the ones you need. It renders one message at a time, so a whole folder becomes separate PDFs rather than one merged file.

Nothing is uploaded at any step: the file is read by JavaScript in the tab, and the page works offline once loaded. PST files cannot be opened in a browser, so convert from the EML or MSG files instead. For a general version of this routine, see how to save an email with attachments.

Verify the backup and restore it when needed

A backup counts once you have opened it from the drive. Copy one MBOX from the external disk back into a fresh Thunderbird profile, or open a PST with Outlook's Open Outlook Data File, and confirm that messages and attachments are there.

To restore mail into a Yahoo or AOL account, add the account to the client over IMAP again and drag the messages from the local folder into the account's folders; the client uploads them with their original headers and dates. AOL users follow the same steps with imap.aol.com. For the broader picture of what to keep and for how long, read the email archiving guide.

Frequently asked questions