# How does Yahoo! Mail stay around? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 10, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911 "2014-10-10T00:52:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911/1 "2014-10-10T00:52:56Z")
I opened a Yahoo! Mail account way back before gmail using my full name as the address. I only use it for “official” personal email, like on resumes or such. It was ok for years. Then something happened. It now sucks. I can routinely get page load errors, or other weird hang-ups. Lately the page has been loading fine, but none of the folders or tools (like delete) are active (I can click and click and nothing happens). I’m left to just stare at my inbox and the messages in it. These issues seem to have started a few years ago with “new” Yahoo Mail. I can’t be the only one experiencing this. Anyone else? How long before Yahoo actually fixes it, or is Yahoo actually going to go down the drain soon? ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911/2 "2014-10-10T00:56:54Z")
Porn and/or any other reasons you’d want a fairly anonymous email address that doesn’t require a lot of verification. Or so I’ve been told. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911/3 "2014-10-10T01:04:11Z")
have you tried different computer, different browser? ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911/4 "2014-10-10T01:07:50Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > have you tried different computer, different browser? Yep. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911/5 "2014-10-10T01:13:31Z")
I’ve had a few Yahoo addresses for around fifteen years. None of them are my primary. I’ve rarely had a problem accessing them or manipulating the mail, probably fewer than a half dozen times. There are third-party web-based clients that can handle your Yahoo mail, and I believe you can use your own email software, like Outlook, to handle it if you configure the POP3 and SMTP settings properly. You may want to consider something along those lines if you continue experiencing difficulties. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911/6 "2014-10-10T01:43:33Z")
I have a Gmail account because my Android phone required one. Otherwise Yahoo is my primary web based e-mail. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911/7 "2014-10-10T01:46:41Z")
My primary account has been on Yahoo for 15 years. It still seems to work fine for me. There are occasional glitches but not that often. I also use GMail and it has about the same reliability. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911/8 "2014-10-10T02:09:42Z")
Yahoo mail works fine for me. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911/9 "2014-10-10T02:16:25Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > My primary account has been on Yahoo for 15 years. It still seems to work fine for me. There are occasional glitches but not that often. 17 years with Yahoo and no problems. I mainly use their iPad app now to retrieve and manage mail. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911/10 "2014-10-10T02:25:04Z")
It’s been wonky for me lately. Can see my folders either. I’ve been on my phone the last few months, though. ---
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911/11 "2014-10-10T02:30:53Z")
works fine on the android, but hate the “conversations” tracking in windows. Overall, thought, it seems to be functioning like it should. Might be you. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911/12 "2014-10-10T02:36:04Z")
Oddly, I AM on a Droid. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911/13 "2014-10-10T02:55:27Z")
I have been on yahoo mail since they acquired rocketmail in 1997 (I think). Never had much trouble accessing it. Get a LOT of spam compared to my gmail account. I use yahoo mail for all “official” mail (banks, career, linked in, etc) and gmail for personal mail. Gmail seems to filter out spam much more effectively. On Yahoo, I can label the same email as spam a dozen times and if keeps coming. But the interface, no problem. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911/14 "2014-10-10T03:11:20Z")
I want an email address that will be constant no matter who my ISP is. Yahoo works fine. But I don’t use the web to read it, I use my the Apple Mail app. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911/15 "2014-10-10T04:41:15Z")
I agree it sucks, but it would be a hassle to switch especially since Yahoo charges for POP3 access so you can get your mail out of their system. My main resistance to Gmail is that they already have my we searches, which is a tremendous amount of info. To have my email as well, with it linked to the search history, is an awful lot of private info for one company to have. ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911/16 "2014-10-10T05:33:13Z")
One of the consultants I deal with at my company (chem lab) uses a Yahoo address as his business e-mail. It seems really weird to me, but then again I still have a Hotmail account as my primary personal e-mail, so who am I to judge. ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911/17 "2014-10-10T11:37:26Z")
I actually can access Yahoo mail ok from my iPhone mail app. However, sometimes at a computer, I’ll log in to check messages (only about 1 out of 10 are actually anything I need, this is my secondary “professional” account with limited traffic). It just seems weird the continuous issues I get when checking online (with both my work and home computers). This especially so given the turn around effort that was put in place a few years back. So I was just curious what other’s experience has been. However, it sounds like I’m alone with these issues, so maybe it’s me. I wonder if Chrome has a glitch that’s carried across both computers in my settings? My hotmail account is still my goto account! You hipsters and your gmail… ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911/18 "2014-10-10T11:38:13Z")
You can set up Gmail to fetch and send from your Yahoo mail account ([POP3](https://help.yahoo.com/kb/mail-for-desktop/pop-server-settings-yahoo-mail-sln4724.html?impressions=true)). Let Google’s servers deal with Yahoo’s servers and you never have to deal with the Yahoo stuff directly. And for what it’s worth, using a Yahoo account as your resume email just makes you look antiquated and silly. ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911/19 "2014-10-10T11:39:37Z")
Oh, another thing with Yahoo Mail; it keeps spamming me with Yahoo! messages, which I immediately mark as Spam (when the function works). Of course Yahoo removes the spam tag in a day and I get more, which I thendesignate as spam again. That doesn’t seem very user-friendly. ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911/20 "2014-10-10T11:41:15Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > You can set up Gmail to fetch and send from your Yahoo mail account ([POP3](https://help.yahoo.com/kb/mail-for-desktop/pop-server-settings-yahoo-mail-sln4724.html?impressions=true)). > > Let Google’s servers deal with Yahoo’s servers and you never have to deal with the Yahoo stuff directly. > > And for what it’s worth, using a Yahoo account as your resume email just makes you look antiquated and silly. :eek: Get off my lawn! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-yahoo-mail-stay-around/700911.md?page=2)