---
title: "Email Backup - How to Set up a Yahoo Account as an Email Account"
slug: "email-backup-how-to-set-up-a-yahoo-account-as-an-email-account"
updated: 2023-11-18T00:28:15Z
published: 2023-11-18T00:28:15Z
canonical: "docs.retrospect.com/email-backup-how-to-set-up-a-yahoo-account-as-an-email-account"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.retrospect.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Email Backup - How to Set up a Yahoo Account as an Email Account

Email Backup

![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/6d1fe0c6-ccdb-4ee9-a621-0504cb91b4be/Images/Documentation/email-backup---how-to-set-up-a-yahoo-account-as-an-email-account-image-af55mw2z.png)

[Yahoo Mail](https://mail.yahoo.com/) is a free email service from Yahoo. Retrospect 15 for Windows and Mac are certified to back up and migrate Yahoo Mail. Follow these step-by-step instructions for configuring Retrospect.

## Configuration

Retrospect needs the following pieces of information to access your email account:

- **Email Address** – your_email_address@example.com
- **User Name** – your full name (for display purposes only)
- **Password** – your email password
- **IMAP Server** – your service’s IMAP server name (see your service’s mail setup information for details)
- **IMAP Port** – 993 (Mac only, Windows always set to 993)

On Windows, select "Email Accounts" under "Volumes" and click "Properties" to add an email account.

![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/6d1fe0c6-ccdb-4ee9-a621-0504cb91b4be/Images/Documentation/email-backup---how-to-set-up-a-yahoo-account-as-an-email-account-image-t5jek5ol.png)

On Mac, select the plus button under "Sources" and then "Email" to add an email account.

![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/6d1fe0c6-ccdb-4ee9-a621-0504cb91b4be/Images/Documentation/email-backup---how-to-set-up-a-yahoo-account-as-an-email-account-image-3f7cecnd.png)

If you receive "error 8252", please check your IMAP server and port.

If you receive "error 8256", please check the following:

- Verify your email address and password
- Verify you have followed the instructions in [Security Settings](https://www.retrospect.com/en/support/kb/how_to_set_up_a_yahoo_account_as_email_account#_security_settings).

If you receive "error 8252", please check your IMAP server and port.

## Security Settings

Yahoo does not allow third-party applications to connect by default if they do not use OAuth authentication. Like most third-party applications, Retrospect uses the standard IMAP protocol with SSL encryption for authentication, but for Yahoo, you will see error 8253, error 8256, or error 8259 "sign-in prevented from a less secure app" when you try to set it up. To fix this, you need to follow one of the following instructions:

**Two-Factor Authentication and Application-Specific Password**

1. Visit [Yahoo Account](https://login.yahoo.com/account/security).
2. Walk through steps to set up two-step verification.
3. Create an application-specific password for Retrospect.

**Allow less secure apps**

1. Visit [Yahoo Account Security](https://login.yahoo.com/account/security#less-secure-apps).
2. Enable "Allow apps that use less secure sign in".

## Adding Email Account to Backup Script

Adding an email account to a backup script is the same as any other source. Launch the Mac Backup Assistant or Windows Backup Wizard and select the email account as a source. If you use the advanced mode, the email accounts are listed along with the other sources.

![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/6d1fe0c6-ccdb-4ee9-a621-0504cb91b4be/Images/Documentation/email-backup---how-to-set-up-a-yahoo-account-as-an-email-account-image-vzhc2wh4.png)

![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/6d1fe0c6-ccdb-4ee9-a621-0504cb91b4be/Images/Documentation/email-backup---how-to-set-up-a-yahoo-account-as-an-email-account-image-k9vdnpnk.png)

## Performance

Below are performance metrics for gauging how long your email operations will take. Keep in mind that they vary greatly by the email service’s responsiveness.

- **Scanning**: For scanning, Retrospect downloads successive sets of email headers. We have seen Retrospect scan 150 emails per second for 100,000 emails on a Gmail account, taking 10 minutes. We have also seen instances where scan is as slow as 10 emails per second.
- **Backup**: For backup, Retrospect downloads each email in serial. In testing, we have seen a backup of 30,000 emails with 3 GB of data take 2.5 hours, averaging 3 Mbps. However, similar to scanning variance, we have seen backups that were far slower.

Last Update: June 27, 2018