| Overview | A Safe Environment | Importing Contacts | Using the Add to Messenger List Window | Adding From Your Address Book | Adding From an Instant Message |
Yahoo! Messenger provides easy, almost instant access to your contacts, while maintaining a secure and safe environment. You must request permission to add people to your Messenger List just as they must request your permission to add your name to their lists. This reciprocal process can involve:
Notes:
If you’ve linked your Facebook account to your Yahoo! account,
your online Facebook friends automatically display on your Messenger
List in the Facebook Friends group. If you don’t want your Facebook
friends to know you’re online, sign out of your Facebook account
by selecting Sign out of Facebook Chat from
the right-click menu on the Facebook Friends group. To learn more
about Facebook and Yahoo!, see the Chatting With Facebook Friends in Yahoo! Messenger video tutorial.
If you’ve added Pingboxes™ to
your personal Web pages, visitors to those pages automatically display on
your Messenger List in a Pingbox
group. To hide your availability from visitors,
turn the Pingbox off. To learn more about Pingboxes and conversing
with visitors to your Web pages, take a look at the Chatting With Visitors to Your Personal Web Page tutorial.
To request permission to add a contact to your Messenger List:
When you request permission to add someone to your Messenger List (as detailed in the remaining tasks of this tutorial) that person receives a request notification and his or her name or ID appears in your Messenger List in a pending state. When the contact accepts your request, the addition becomes permanent.

If the contact declines your request, Messenger sends you a notice and removes the name from your list.

To accept a request to be added to a user’s Messenger List:
When a Yahoo! Messenger or Windows Live™ Messenger user wants to add your name to their Messenger List, your Messenger displays the Add to Messenger List Request window. To allow the person to add you to their list, do the following:
If you want to know more about the person, click the View this person’s profile link.

Tip: Windows Live™ Messenger contacts don’t have Yahoo! profiles, so you won’t see this option when such a contact wants to add you to his or her list.
Your web browser opens and displays the person’s profile. When you’re satisfied, return to the Add to Messenger List Request window.
Click the Allow this person to add me and see when I am online option. (This option is checked by default).

Tip: If this person isn’t in your Messenger List, you also see an option to add the name to your list.
Click the Finish button.
You can now communicate freely with this contact.
To reject a request to be added to a user’s Messenger List:
In the Add to Messenger List Request window, click the Do not allow this person to add me or see when I am online option, then click the Next button.

In the next window, choose one of the following options:
Allow the user to continue sending you instant messages, and, if you like, enter a reason for declining the request to have your name added to the person’s Messenger List.

Tip: Anyone can send you instant messages without being on your Messenger List or in your address book and without having your name in their list.
Ignore all future contact with this person.

This places the person’s name in your Ignore List and blocks all Messenger communications from the person.
Tip: For additional information on blocking unwanted communications from anyone not in your Messenger List, see the Learn More.
Click the Finish button.
To quickly populate your Messenger List with contacts, import them from your Yahoo! Contacts and other address book applications that you use.