Yahoo Mail not working: website, app, sign-in and missing mail

Temporary error 15

What Yahoo says it is. An error that usually corrects itself within a few minutes to a few hours.

Possible causes, per Yahoo. A browser that Yahoo Mail does not support, the account open in two browsers at the same time, or open on several devices at once from more than one place.

Possible fixes. Restart the browser, clear its cache, use a supported browser and operating system, and sign out of all devices and back in. If it persists, Yahoo recommends an email app like its Yahoo Mail app for iOS and Android, or the native mail app on a smartphone or tablet.

When Yahoo Mail will not let you sign in

A forgotten password or Yahoo ID. Yahoo says to use the Sign-in Helper with the recovery mobile number or alternate email address.

Invalid ID or Password. Yahoo’s checks are Caps Lock and Num Lock, the browser’s saved passwords after a change, another browser (if that works, the problem is the browser, not the account), and the chance that someone else changed the password, which needs the Sign-in Helper and a review of the account.

A locked account. After too many unsuccessful attempts, Yahoo says the account may be locked, unlocks automatically after 12 hours, and can be opened at once with the Sign-in Helper. Repeated locks, it says, can follow a detected risk to the password, an IP address that is hidden or constantly changing, or sign-ins from different places in a short time.

A sign-in screen that loops. Click Not you?, enter the Yahoo ID and password again, and sign in; then, one at a time, clear cookies, restart the browser, try another supported browser or another Yahoo sign-in page. If the recovery information is wrong or out of reach, Yahoo says access may not be regained. 2-Step Verification, which Yahoo suggests once back in, is in two-factor and two-step.

Mail that does not arrive

The settings. Yahoo lists the reply-to address, a sender or a domain blocked by mistake, the spam folder, and filters that send mail to another folder.

A test. Sign in on a computer and send yourself an email. With no error, Yahoo says the account is working as expected; if the email does not arrive, it points to failed delivery messages; with an error message, the instructions to fix it should come with the message. If nothing is wrong on your side, Yahoo says the issue is with the sender, who should check the address and ask their own provider.

Recycled accounts. An inactive or recycled Yahoo address may not get password reset emails from other services; Yahoo says to sign in to the Yahoo account first. Mail that was there and has gone is in deleted emails.

On a phone

Computer first. When a phone gets no mail, Yahoo’s first check is the same mailbox on a computer: if mail is not arriving there either, it says the issue is with the account, not the device.

The Yahoo Mail app. Yahoo says an app that is not up to date may fail to connect to its servers, so its steps are to update it from the app store, sign out and back in, and uninstall and reinstall it.

The iPhone Mail app. Yahoo says most problems there come from invalid settings or from the Yahoo account itself: send yourself an email from a computer and see if it arrives within 5 minutes, update iOS, remove Yahoo from Mail and add it back, or use the Yahoo Mail app. Apple adds that with iOS 11 and later, Fetch New Data set to Automatically gets new mail in the background only while the iPhone is charging and on Wi-Fi, and that deleting or changing the account settings might remove mail already downloaded, so check the mail is on the provider’s website or saved somewhere other than the device. A password that has stopped working in Mail is in a mail password that stopped.