Corbett

Yahoo Backup Tool

Corbett Yahoo Backup Tool downloads a complete Yahoo Mail account to PST, MBOX, EML, MSG, PDF, HTML, CSV or TXT. Save the copy to any folder, external drive included, with folders, attachments and dates intact. Multiple accounts in one run, no size cap, Windows only.

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4.6 out of 5 from 683 reviews

Mail moves between the local PC and Yahoo. Nothing passes through a Corbett server.

Free demo, scanned clean on VirusTotal and a 30-day money-back window.

Lifetime licence from $99 Free trial saves 10 emails per folder

Yahoo specifics

Yahoo Backup Tool for Folders, Mail and Dates

Yahoo empties a mailbox left unused for 12 months, and the free plan caps storage. Corbett's Yahoo backup tool saves mail, attachments and dates to a local drive. Yahoo uses plain folders, so the structure transfers cleanly.

Comes across

Folder tree
Attachments
Inline images
Signatures
Message dates
Read/unread status
Full headers

Folders backed up

Inbox
Sent
Drafts
Archive
Trash
Custom folders

Saves as

PST
MBOX
EML
MSG
PDF
HTML
CSV
TXT
vCard
ICS

Not included

Filters and rules
Account settings
Calendar events
Alias addresses

A PDF holds the message and nothing else

Printing straight from Yahoo Mail includes the surrounding page. A PDF saved from the backup holds only the message.

Print Yahoo emails without ads

Core features

Inside Yahoo Backup Tool, Five Screens

Five Yahoo wizard screens, from app password to finished file.

Connect

Use a Yahoo App Password

Choose Yahoo and imap.mail.yahoo.com on port 993 is set automatically. Paste the code created in Yahoo's External connections area and the @yahoo.com, @ymail.com or @rocketmail.com folders load. The login is remembered, so next month's backup starts without a new code.

imap.mail.yahoo.com or POP3 settings found on their own
App password accepted where two-step verification is on
Batch mode takes several Yahoo accounts from a CSV list
Pause and resume, so the run survives a weak connection

Yahoo folder tree with selection checkboxes

Folder selection

Select the Yahoo Folders

Yahoo folders show as a tree with tick boxes and mail totals. Compact view hides the empty ones, a relief on a decade-old Yahoo account full of abandoned folders.

Every folder and subfolder carries its own checkbox
Totals beside every Yahoo folder
Compact view hides empty folders
Bulk and Trash can stay on Yahoo

Message preview

Preview a Yahoo Message

Nothing is saved before the preview. Four analysis views sit beside the normal view, which a Yahoo account copied for a legal request needs and a plain archive does not.

Content loads the email exactly as delivered
Message header charts the path from sender to mailbox
Properties counts attachments and gives the size
Hex and raw message carry the encoded original

Selective backup

Back Up Yahoo Mail by Date or Sender

Filters work before anything is written. One search box narrows folders, another narrows messages, so a single thread can be lifted out of a busy Yahoo inbox.

Start and end dates for any period
Sender, subject or message content
Messages that carry an attachment
Size limit to skip heavy video mail
Skip duplicate messages
Keep the attachments without the mail around them

Output options

Store Yahoo Mail on Disk or in a New Inbox

After the preview, decide the target: a folder on the PC or a live mailbox elsewhere, the usual choice when a Yahoo account is being shut down.

Mail formats: PST, MBOX, EML and MSG for any desktop client
Document formats: PDF, HTML, CSV and TXT for offline access anywhere
Move Yahoo mail into Gmail, Microsoft 365 or another IMAP mailbox with the Yahoo Mail Migration Tool
Extract only attachments, addresses, phone numbers or contact photos, see download all attachments in Yahoo Mail

Before connecting

Yahoo Mail Sign-In With an App Password

Two settings decide whether any mail software can reach a Yahoo account. Both live in Yahoo, not in the Yahoo backup tool. Neither takes more than a minute.

Check first

IMAP has to be turned on

Unlike Gmail, Yahoo still keeps an IMAP switch. Open Yahoo Mail Settings, then More Settings, then Mailboxes. Confirm IMAP access is on. A switched off IMAP is the second most common reason a setup fails.

Required

An app password, not the Yahoo password

With two-step verification switched on, the normal Yahoo password is rejected by every mail client. Open the Yahoo Account Security page, find External connections and click Create app password.

Then clean up

Delete it after the backup

Changing the Yahoo password does not cancel an app password. It keeps working until deleted on the same security page, so remove it once the backup is done.

If mail is missing instead of unreachable, the cause is usually elsewhere. Notes cover Yahoo Mail not syncing and Yahoo emails disappeared from inbox.

Free demo

Test Yahoo Backup Tool on a Yahoo Inbox

Install the free demo, paste the app password and select one folder to test. No file appears until the backup starts.

Download free demo

Before purchase

Yahoo Backup Tool vs Thunderbird

Yahoo has no export button of its own. A mailbox left unused for 12 months is emptied permanently. The free route is to add the account to Thunderbird over IMAP and let it sync, which costs nothing and works. Here is where both routes stop.

Task	Thunderbird	Yahoo Backup Tool
Cost	Free	$99 one time
One account, kept on a PC	Does it well	Also does it, the price pays for the extras
Choice of output format	MBOX only, stored inside the Thunderbird profile	Ten formats including PST and PDF
Save one sender or one year	Syncs the entire account	Date, sender, size and attachment filters
View headers and raw source	Source view only	Content, header, properties, hex and raw
Setting it up	Install a mail client, then wait for a full sync	Sign in and start
Several accounts	Added one at a time, all syncing at once	Queued together
Opening the result later	Needs Thunderbird or Apple Mail to open	Outlook opens the PST, any device opens the PDF

Rows tinted green are the ones where Thunderbird comes out ahead.

For one Yahoo account kept as MBOX on a single computer, Thunderbird costs nothing and is good enough, no purchase needed. The guide save Yahoo emails to computer covers the free route in full.

Specifications

Yahoo Backup Tool Specs

Download details

Released: Dec 2020
Download size: 87.4 MB
Trial limit: 10 emails per folder
Delivery: Download link and key by email
Licence: Lifetime, up to 5 machines

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System

Hard disk: 150 MB to install, plus room for output
RAM: 4 GB minimum
Processor: 1 GHz, 2.4 GHz advised
Rights: Run as Administrator
Mail client: Not required

Supported editions

Windows desktops 7 through 11 in both bit versions, plus Windows Server 2008 through 2025.

No macOS or Linux build.

Corbett has built Windows email utilities since 2020. The developers behind Yahoo Backup Tool answer its tickets.

Working process

Yahoo Backup Tool on Video

Prefer screenshots? The IMAP backup guide shows a Yahoo backup one click at a time.

Common questions

Yahoo Backup Tool Questions

App passwords, Yahoo inactivity rules and the limits of this software.

Why back up Yahoo Mail when the account is already online?

Yahoo empties any mailbox left unused for 12 months unless the account pays for Yahoo Mail Plus. Mail, folders, contacts and settings disappear. Logging back in recovers the address only. A forgotten password or a locked account cuts access just as fast, so a local copy is the version that stays safe.

My Yahoo mailbox is full. Does a backup free up space?

Not by itself. Free Yahoo accounts now carry a storage cap of 15 GB to 20 GB depending on the region. A full mailbox stops receiving mail. Anything sent to you while it is full is never stored and cannot be recovered. Back up first, confirm the copy opens, then delete from the server yourself.

Why does the tool reject my Yahoo password?

With two-step verification on, Yahoo blocks the normal password in every mail app. Open Yahoo Account Security, go to External connections, choose Create app password and paste that code into Yahoo Backup Tool.

Do I need to enable IMAP in Yahoo first?

Yes. Yahoo still keeps that switch, which is where it differs from Gmail. Open Yahoo Mail Settings, then More Settings, then Mailboxes. Confirm IMAP access is on before you connect.

Does changing my Yahoo password cancel the app password?

No. An app password keeps working after a password change. Delete it on the same Account Security page once the backup is done.

Does the Yahoo backup tool keep my folder structure?

Yes. Yahoo stores mail in plain folders, so the tree is rebuilt exactly the way it stands, subfolders included. You can also flatten it if one folder suits you better.

Can several Yahoo accounts run together?

Yes. Batch mode loads a CSV list of accounts and works through them in bulk, so a household or small office finishes in one run. Every account still needs its own app password.

Are Yahoo attachments and contacts saved?

Yes. Attachments and inline photos stay with their emails. Contacts held in the account export as vCard. The Extract option can also save attachments, addresses, phone numbers or contact photos by themselves.

Can I save Yahoo mail to PDF without the ads?

Yes. Printing from the Yahoo website includes the surrounding page. A PDF saved from the backup holds the message, headers and attachments. Nothing else from the screen appears in it.

Can it run again later and download only new mail?

No. There is no incremental backup mode, so a second run copies whatever you select instead of only what arrived since. Skipping duplicates stops the same message being saved twice. Narrowing the date range keeps a repeat run short.

Can it handle a 20 GB Yahoo mailbox?

No. Neither account size nor message count is capped in the licensed edition. Yahoo limits download speed for any client, so a large mailbox takes longer. The run does not stop partway and resumes after a dropped connection.

Can I move Yahoo mail into Gmail or Outlook instead of a file?

Yes. Select a live mailbox as the destination and mail transfers straight into Gmail, Microsoft 365, Outlook.com or any IMAP host. Saving to PST first and importing that into Outlook works too.

Does Yahoo mail travel through Corbett servers?

No. Your own PC opens the connection to Yahoo and saves to your chosen drive. Corbett keeps and forwards nothing.

Can Yahoo Backup Tool be used on macOS?

No. Windows only, from Windows 7 up to Windows 11, plus Server editions from 2008 to 2025. There is no macOS build and no Linux build.

What does the Yahoo Backup Tool demo allow?

All folders load, every filter works and every preview tab opens. Only 10 emails per folder get saved, enough to check the output.

Step by step

Yahoo Mail Help Articles

Guides for Yahoo Mail tasks before and after a backup.

Saving Yahoo mail

When something is wrong

After the backup

The full provider list is on the email backup software page. To shift a Yahoo account to another provider, use the Yahoo Mail Migration Tool, part of the email migration tool. Yahoo backups can later move to PDF, MSG and more with the email converter tool. Uploading a saved file to a working inbox is handled by the email recovery software. To look through saved files with no export, use the free email viewer software. Apple mail is covered by the iCloud backup tool, Google Workspace by the Google Workspace backup tool and Roundcube or Horde mail by the Webmail backup tool. More Yahoo walkthroughs: Archive Yahoo Mail to hard drive, Save Yahoo email as PDF and Transfer emails from Yahoo to another account. Sibling pages: Gmail backup tool, Outlook.com backup tool, Hotmail backup tool and Office 365 backup tool.

User testimonials

Reviews of Yahoo Backup Tool

683 reviews score the wizard that drives Yahoo Backup Tool.

4.6 out of 5

Collected across 683 reviews from software catalogues and buyer feedback. The three quoted here are unaltered.

Moved Yahoo to a personal account

A really wonderful software. I wanted to take the backup of multiple Yahoo emails to my personal account. This application helped me in getting the work done seamlessly, with no data loss.

Maria Gomez

Found it after a search, it worked

I wanted to backup my Yahoo mailbox. However, I wasn't sure how to get this task done. A Google search led me to this Yahoo Email backup tool and so far this solution has worked well.

Phillip Bates

Wanted the addresses only

What I really liked about this Yahoo Mail Backup tool is its ability to archive the particular files that I needed. Actually, I had to save email addresses from my Yahoo mails. For that, this application worked pretty great.

Melissa Stegner

Get started

Protect Yahoo Mail With Yahoo Backup Tool Now

Download the Yahoo Backup Tool demo, enter an app password and save a test folder. The full licence is a one-time $99 with a 30-day money-back promise.

Download free demo Purchase now

87.4 MB · Windows 11 to 7 and Windows Server 2025 to 2008 · 30 day money back