Solve problems sending and receiving POP or IMAP clients

Third-party email clients, such as Outlook and Mac Mail, use the POP or IMAP protocols to connect to your Yahoo mail account. These applications need many things to align perfectly to work properly with an email account. Use these steps to identify and solve the source of the problem.

Step 1: Check if there is a problem with your account

You will have to address any questions or problems you see when doing the following before you can use your account in a third-party email application.

1. Log in to your Yahoo email account from a web browser.
2. Compose a new email and add your own address in the "To" field.
3. Send the email and see if it arrives in 5 minutes.

Step 2: Verify that you are using the correct POP or IMAP configuration

Verify that the application is configured with the correct POP or IMAP settings for Yahoo Mail. Sometimes, even if the information seems correct, the data on the hard drive that the application saved could be corrupted or contain invalid characters. You can delete your account from the application and add it again to be sure. If you need specific instructions for your application, contact your manufacturer.

Step 3: Check the software that is blocking the ports we use

Firewalls, antivirus software, and network protocols have the ability to block ports. If any of our ports (995, 465 or 587) is blocked, the application cannot connect to our servers. Check with your Internet service provider or the manufacturer of your security software to find out how to verify and unlock ports.

Step 4: verify if any of these scenarios apply to you

Are you using an older POP or IMAP email application?

If you try to use Yahoo Mail on an older email client that uses POP or IMAP, you may get a "Server password has changed" error message or an "Authentication failed" error message. This is because these email applications use outdated security protocols and we have now disabled access to them by default.

You can grant temporary access to outdated applications in your account settings.

Are you using the Yahoo account key or two-step verification?

These additional security features require that you create and use an application password for third-party email applications.

Have you added an additional email address to your Yahoo email account?

Make sure you have verified the additional email addresses you have added. Any unverified address can cause errors, such as an error code 553 when sending from a third-party email application.

Follow the instructions you received at the additional address to complete the verification process.

Step 5: Contact the manufacturer of your application or use a different application

If you have verified that your account is working outside the application and has checked the other possible solutions, then there is a problem with the application you are using. The application manufacturer may have additional troubleshooting steps to try. Alternatively, you can use a different third-party email application.