How to retrieve deleted emails from Yahoo Mail, either by undeleting messages or submitting a 'Resto

Publish date: 2024-08-01
2020-07-17T12:04:00Z

Keeping a Yahoo Mail inbox tidy is no easy task.

Depending on how many messages you've got, deleting emails on Yahoo can be a tedious task —  especially if you delete an email that you later regret losing.

But if you act fast enough, there are ways you can recover deleted emails by retrieving them from your Trash folder. If the message is lost or not in your Trash folder, you have a seven-day grace period to submit a request to Yahoo to help you restore the email.

Here's how to undelete emails from Yahoo, or submit a request for Yahoo to help you recover lost emails. You can do this through any browser on your Mac and PC, or via the mobile app on iPhone and Android devices.

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How to undelete emails from Yahoo via desktop 

To save server space, Yahoo won't cling to your deleted emails forever. Yahoo automatically clears your Trash and Spam folders after a certain period of time — Trashed emails delete after seven days, while spam emails delete after 30 days — and these settings can't be changed.

Whenever you delete an email, Yahoo moves it to your Trash folder, where it sits for seven days. The easiest way to retrieve any deleted emails is to undelete the email from that folder.

1. Open Yahoo Mail in a web browser. 

2. In the left-hand navigation pane, click "Trash." 

Open your Trash folder. Emma Witman/Business Insider

3. Find and select the email you want to retrieve by clicking the checkbox to the left of the sender's name. 

4. With the checkbox still marked, select "Restore to Inbox," from the list of options at the top of your inbox.

You can restore multiple emails at once by selecting them all. Emma Witman/Business Insider

Your selected emails will now be available in your inbox.

How to undelete emails from Yahoo via the mobile app

1. In the Yahoo Mail app for iOS or Android, open the navigation menu by tapping the icon on the bottom left of your screen.

You might need to scroll down to see the Trash option. Emma Witman/Business Insider

2. Once the navigation menu appears, tap "Trash." 

3. Open the message you want to retrieve.

4. Tap "Move" and select "Inbox."

The Move option can be found at the bottom of the page. Emma Witman/Business Insider

5. Your selected email is now available in your inbox.

How to recover lost emails with a Yahoo Restore Request

If you're not able to find a deleted email in your Trash folder, you can submit a restore request to Yahoo. 

There's a possibility — albeit no guarantee — that Yahoo will be able to find and restore the email if you take these steps.

1. Open a Restore Request form via the Yahoo Help Central.

2. Specify in the required form whether you deleted the message in the mobile or desktop Yahoo Mail platform, and the approximate time frame when you last the saw message.

3. Enter your Yahoo ID, and an email address that you have access to.

4. Select "Create Request" to finalize your request. 

Yahoo may fill out some of the Restore Request information automatically if you're signed into your account. Emma Witman/Business Insider

If successful, the recovered message will be added back to the folder it was in previously.  Check your Trash folder if you can't find a message after the restoration is complete.

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Emma Witman Emma Witman is an Asheville, NC-based freelance journalist with a keen interest in writing about hardware, PC gaming, politics, and personal finance. She is a former crime reporter for a daily newspaper, and has also written extensively about bartending for Insider. She may or may not judge your drink order when behind the bar. Follow her on Twitter at @emwity. Read more Read less

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