There are two ways that Yahoo! Mail can be configured for use within external email clients: Using a mobile carrier's "IMAP" servers or the Yahoo! "POP" servers. Each option will result in different interactions between your email client and your Yahoo! Mail account. For help configuring either of these protocols, please see our set up instructions.

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol):

IMAP is the default protocol used when setting up your Yahoo! Mail account for use with a mobile email client. When using IMAP, changes made to email messages on your device will be reflected automatically in your Yahoo! Mail account on the web, and vice versa.

Essentially, you will see an accurate reflection of your inbox in your email client and any message changes (read, deleted, etc.) will be reflected in both your client and on the web when using IMAP as your access protocol.

Note: If you have specific questions about setting up IMAP on a mobile device, please consult your wireless carrier or OS/email client maker, as configuration steps vary greatly.

POP (Post Office Protocol):

Please note: this feature is available only to Mail Plus subscribers. For more information on Mail Plus, please visit this webpage.

POP is another protocol that can be used to deliver messages from your Yahoo! Mail account to an external email client. When using POP, your Yahoo! Mail messages will be delivered directly to your email client. If you do not configure your device to leave a copy of the messages on our servers, your Yahoo! Mail account will always appear empty when viewed on the web.

If you modify your email client's configuration to retain copies of messages on Yahoo! Mail servers, copies of messages will exist independently in both your account your email client. These copies can be modified independently of each other, so if you delete an email from your email client, the message will still be retained in your Yahoo! Mail account.

Note: If you have specific configuration questions regarding POP in your email client, please consult your wireless carrier or OS/email client maker, as configuration steps vary greatly.