I can't add my Yahoo email account into my iPhone

Question

I can't add my Yahoo email account into my iPhone

Hi I am new to smartphones so please have patience with me.

A few yrs ago somebody gave me their old iphone 5, but the screen was too small for me so i gave up.

I did manage to load my yahoo email account though (in what i think is the apple mail account - the icon with envelope symbol on the home screen) & send & receive a couple of msgs.

However somebody recently gave me their old iphone 6plus, which is much bigger & i can manage it.

I went to the envelope icon again, & selected YAHOO option from the list of email options & followed the instructions to sign in. But instead of loading the account it just took me back to the list of options again.

I wondered if perhaps the old iphone 5 being still in a drawer somewhere was somehow messing things up so i deleted my email account from there.

I tried changing the password, restarting, several times but now neither iphone will load my yahoo mail account.

I went on my laptop & signed out of yahoo & back in again with the new password which worked fine.

Every time i go through the sign in process on my iphone trying to get my email account to load, i get an email (seen on laptop) that i have signed in on my iphone.

Am totally confused i cant understand what i am doing wrong. Can somebody help an old dinosaur out please?

iphone6 plus, running 12.5.7

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Jul 25, 2023 8:58 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

HummingbirdBlue Author

Level 1

20 points

Jul 26, 2023 2:20 AM in response to brbo

Hi @brbo thanks for your reply

yes I tried those things already thanks, but have just tried them all again to make sure.

yes thats how i'm logging on - through Passwords & accounts - accounts - yahoo - login info.

but i put my login info in, and it just goes straight back to the list from which i chose yahoo. It doesnt register that i have even added an account.

I also tried it directly from the 'Mail' app - the app with the envelope icon on the home screen. Same result.

And yet yahoo register it because they send me an email notifying me of 'New login on iOS' every time, so yahoo are clearly recognising that my account has been logged into but the iphone wont load the account, its just as if i never logged in.

Anyone else have any ideas please? TIA

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Answer 2

Nov 26, 2023 8:29 AM in response to HummingbirdBlue

yahoo uses safari as the default browser on the iphone. it caches your login and will cause problems. go clear your safari cache by going to: settings, safari, clear history and website data, and choose last hour. now add your yahoo account and it will prompt you for your email and password. it will fail, and you will need to login again in the same browser screen you are in. once you do this it links the account partially. now close this all out, go back to the yahoo app, and add the account. it will now add your yahoo email to the yahoo iphone app. Unreal.

This will allow you to also add sub accounts one at a time, and you need to clear the history each time you add a sub account.

the reason for this odd behavior is that the yahoo iphone app is using the safari browser as a middleman piece of software to marry the app to your email account, and most likely, the cookies have a timeout cache of less than an hour that is causing issues.

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Answer 3

brbo

Level 8

35,723 points

Jul 25, 2023 10:10 PM in response to HummingbirdBlue

Hi HummingbirdBlue

welcome to the Apple (user-to-user) Community.

Re: "iphone 6 (plus) wont load yahoo email account"

Restarting the phone was a great thing to try ... that deletes temporary files and will often restore order.

For iOS 12:

If needed: You can check you are connecting to the Internet ok ...

Connect iPhone to the Internet - Apple Support

For adding the eMail account:

You can quit the Mail app, and restart the Mail app again.

How to: Quit and restart an app on iPhone - Apple Support

Then try again to add the eMail account.

Now I don't know if this will help, or if this is precisely what you have already tried.

For iOS12 :

In the Settings app:

Choose Mail > Passwords and Accounts > Add Account > Yahoo

Add the log-in info, and follow instructions to add the account.

All the best :-)

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Answer 4

brbo

Level 8

35,723 points

Jul 31, 2023 4:46 PM in response to HummingbirdBlue

If the internet connection is working ok on the iPhone:

As the emails from Yahoo to your phone seem to be getting through on your laptop:

Wondering if you might want to try quitting and restarting the iPhone's Mail app:

Apple's article can help: Quit and restart an app on iPhone - Apple Support

If the Mail app still does not receive the eMail from Yahoo:

You could then restart the iPhone (deletes temporary files and re-establishes connections) How to: Restart your iPhone - Apple Support

says:

"Press and hold the side button until the power-off slider appears.

Drag the slider, then wait 30 seconds for your device to turn off.

To turn your iPhone back on:

press and hold the side button until you see the Apple logo."

Check to see if the Mail app is getting the messages from Yahoo now.

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Answer 5

brbo

Level 8

35,723 points

Aug 5, 2023 4:28 PM in response to HummingbirdBlue

Thank you for patiently trying suggestions, and I respect your decision to give up.

At the least we eliminated the automated avenues open to achieve the result.

Seems Yahoo could not use the automated methods on older iOS devices for security reasons, leaving only the manual method, which you also tried.

Add an email account to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

All the best :-)

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Answer 6

Aug 4, 2023 2:53 AM in response to brbo

brbo wrote:

Thank you for your reply, and your patience. Seems the link you followed was quite different from obtaining the one-time password. This one-time password was to permit the Yahoo account to be used in Apple's Mail app.

I may be wrong, perhaps you tried both links.

Eh? Sorry that doesnt make sense to me... what do you mean by "both links"? Do you mean the link i provided and the link you provided? If so then no i didnt try both links because they both say exactly the same thing - see screen shots of both links attached. just one hosted in au & one in uk

It seems from your post that the link you followed was for a third-party app password. (You discovered that the third-party (Yahoo) app could not be used on your device.)

I dont think you realised that the link you gave says the same thing? But in any case both links are hosted by yahoo, so the 'third party app' in this case is apple mail, not yahoo. Yahoo cannot be talking about their own app as a 'third party' app.

thanks brbo i appreciate you sticking with this, and for your own patience! :)

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Answer 7

brbo

Level 8

35,723 points

Jul 26, 2023 2:52 PM in response to HummingbirdBlue

Thank you kindly for your thoughtful reply, HummingbirdBlue.

A thought just "strucK" ... wondering if you need to log-in to your Yahoo account online, and ensure any boxes are ticked to allow the two-way exchange ...

Yahoo advertise an app that can be used for access to email... have no experience to offer with that though.

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Answer 8

Jul 27, 2023 6:36 AM in response to brbo

hi, many thanks for responding again brbo.

i tried to get the yahoo app thats available on app store, but it requires iOS15 or above & mine wont update past 12 unfortunately

wondering if you need to log-in to your Yahoo account online, and ensure any boxes are ticked to allow the two-way exchange ...

Sorry i have no idea what that means?

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Answer 9

brbo

Level 8

35,723 points

Jul 27, 2023 5:03 PM in response to HummingbirdBlue

Re: Sorry i have no idea what that means?

Looking through Yahoo's online "help" seems there may be an extra security requirement when using older software

https://au.help.yahoo.com/kb/new-mail-for-desktop/securely-access-yahoo-mail-sln27791.html

says:

"If you try to use Yahoo Mail in a third-party email client using less secure sign-in technology, you might get a "Server password has changed" or an "Authentication failed" error message. This is because those email apps use outdated security protocols and access to Yahoo Mail is disabled to them by default".

Ie: The older Mail app on your Mac can not securely access your Yahoo Mail (unless)

The answer seems to be to obtain a special app-specific password from Yahoo to allow the Mac's older Mail app to access your Yahoo Mail account.

"The app specific-password gives a non-Yahoo app (Mac Mail app) permission to access your Yahoo account. You'll only need to provide this code once to sign in to your third-party email app."

This is the page (NB: for my country 🇦🇺) where you can generate that special password by clicking a link on the Yahoo web-page:

https://au.help.yahoo.com/kb/new-mail-for-desktop/password-sln15241.html

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Answer 10

TheLittles

Level 10

195,485 points

Jul 27, 2023 5:20 PM in response to HummingbirdBlue

HummingbirdBlue Said:

"iphone 6 wont load yahoo email account: [...]Am totally confused i cant understand what i am doing wrong. Can somebody help an old dinosaur out please? iphone6 plus, running 12.5.7"

-------

Use an App Password for Login:

Mail is a third-party app. So, use an App Password. Create a unique one for each device. Remove the current one, and then use the new one instead. Sometimes, changes (i.e. updates) are made to the device, and then mail server syncing becomes an issue (which is what a new App Password it intended to fix).:

Yahoo: Generate and manage third-party app passwords | Account Help | Yahoo

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Answer 11

Jul 29, 2023 7:03 AM in response to TheLittles

Thank you brbo and TheLittles

TheLittles wrote:

Use an App Password for Login:

Mail is a third-party app. So, use an App Password. Create a unique one for each device. Remove the current one, and then use the new one instead. Sometimes, changes (i.e. updates) are made to the device, and then mail server syncing becomes an issue (which is what a new App Password it intended to fix).:

Yahoo: Generate and manage third-party app passwords | Account Help | Yahoo

Following that link it says

"Some older, third-party email apps (that do not use our Yahoo branded sign-in page) require you to enter a single password for login credentials. " But the mail app does use the 'yahoo branded sign in page'.

I'll try it though.... In the process of generating an app password it asks for the name of the app - i tried putting Apple mail, and then just simply Mail.

I tried the passwords it generated for both but it just says 'invalid password'. Am i using the wrong app name? Have goggled it but i cant seem to find any other name than 'Mail' or Apple Mail.

Your help is much appreciated

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Answer 12

Jul 29, 2023 8:26 AM in response to HummingbirdBlue

Also just to reiterate/confim...

the issue isnt that i cannot sign in. The sign in process goes without a hitch, it doesnt say invalid password or anything, and it looks like every other time i ever signed into my yahoo account. And i get an email (viewed through my laptop browser) alerting me that i have signed in - "New sign in on iOS"

So i cant really see how an app password will help since i am signing in successfully, its just that the iphone doesnt register that i have done it, but instead it just goes back to the beginning again.... where is presents a list of email options...

icloud

exchange

google

yahoo

Aol

outlook

all with their logos as normal.

Where i click on yahoo, where is takes me to the usual easily recognisable yahoo sign in page, where i sign in... again... and it takes me back to the beginning... again, but i get an email saying i signed in on iOS, again, and again, and around we go.

very frustrating!

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Answer 13

Aug 1, 2023 3:21 AM in response to brbo

Hi brbo thanks so much for trying to help me.

I have restarted the phone, and the app, multiple times, thats one of the first things i tried.

Its not that emails from yahoo to my phone are getting through on my laptop... the emails i get on my laptop are just security notifications that yahoo send to let you know that your account has been signed into - so if its not you then you can be aware of it & change password etc. Same as you get when you sign into your netflix account from a different device or whatever.

The issue isnt that the emails dont come through on the iphone, but that the account will not load. Hence the title of the thread.

I open the mail app,

i chose yahoo from the list,

it takes me to the yahoo sign in page where i enter my username and then password...

whereupon it ought to then take me to my email account...

but it doesnt, it just takes me back to the beginning with the list, and i choose yahoo again, sign in again... and on & on ad infinitum. Restarting the phone and the app makes no difference at all.

When i go to settings to look at what accounts are there, it has not registered that i have loaded an email account. The phone refuses to register that i have done anything at all, its as if i never signed in.

But the issue cannot be with yahoo because each sign in is generating a security notification email.

Its bizarre

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Answer 14

brbo

Level 8

35,723 points

Aug 2, 2023 4:01 PM in response to HummingbirdBlue

Re: "it takes me to the yahoo sign in page where i enter my username and then password... whereupon it ought to then take me to my email account... but it doesnt",

and

"When i go to settings to look at what accounts are there, it has not registered that i have loaded an email account. The phone refuses to register that i have done anything at all, its as if i never signed in".

Seems your older Mac software is not secure enough to allow the Mail app to load on the iPhone, without the extra measure of that secure one-time password giving permission.

ie: seems the secure access to your eMail account requires the verification that your iPhone is in use by you, the account holder (ie: is not somebody else).

Sorry that I do not have that iPhone model and iOS version handy to experiment and outline every step of the process, of getting that one-time password from Yahoo and entering it in the correct place, where the iPhone can gain access to the Yahoo Mail.

Best I can do is to point you to the beginning of that process (repeated below)

This is the page (NB: for my country 🇦🇺) where you can generate that special password by clicking a link on the Yahoo web-page:

https://au.help.yahoo.com/kb/new-mail-for-desktop/password-sln15241.html

(Eg: It is likely you will get an eMail from Yahoo with that special one-time password ... and instructions where to enter it, yet could be a different method.)

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Answer 15

Aug 3, 2023 10:36 AM in response to brbo

Hi brbo thanks for responding again...

i took your advice earlier to use the one time secure password - The Littles posted the link for uk. here Generate and manage third-party app passwords | Account Help - SLN15241 (yahoo.com)

I followed the instructions and it didnt work, as i explained in previous post

"In the process of generating an app password it asks for the name of the app - i tried putting Apple mail, and then just simply Mail.

I tried the passwords it generated for both but the sign in process says 'invalid password'.

Am i using the wrong app name? Have goggled it but i cant seem to find any other name than 'Mail' or Apple Mail."

I'm pretty sure this isnt the problem, because it says (in the above link)

Some older, third-party email apps (that do not use our Yahoo branded sign-in page) require you to enter a single password for login credentials.

But this app does use the 'branded sign in page'.

At any rate i tried because you both suggested it earlier, but i couldnt get it to generate a one time password that would work, presumably because either i got the name of the app wrong, or because this isnt the issue and it doesnt need a one-time password & yahoo will only accept my usual yahoo password.

Do you know for definite what the iphone email app is called? - I used 'Mail' and 'Apple Mail' as they are the only names i could find when i searched for the name of the iphone mail app. If its called something else this could be why it wouldnt generate a working one-time password

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I can't add my Yahoo email account into my iPhone

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