Moving from Yahoo Mail to Gmail? Gmail has a free tool that copies all your Yahoo emails, folders and contacts across for you. You don’t need to buy or install anything.
But a few things have changed that most guides haven’t caught up with. Gmail is ending its link to Yahoo in January 2027, Yahoo charges for forwarding, and Yahoo deletes mailboxes that nobody signs in to.
So this guide covers the whole move, not just the copying. How to transfer your Yahoo Mail to Gmail, how to keep new emails coming, and how to make sure you don’t lose your Yahoo address while you switch.
The Short Version
- Use Gmail’s Import mail and contacts tool. It copies everything and brings in new Yahoo emails for 30 days.
- Use those 30 days to give your bank, shops and friends your new Gmail address.
- Don’t close your Yahoo account yet. Sign in every few months so Yahoo doesn’t delete it.
What’s Changing With Yahoo and Gmail
If you’ve followed an older guide (including the first version of this one), some of it won’t work any more. Here’s what’s different.
Gmail Is Ending Its Link to Yahoo
For years you could ask Gmail to check your Yahoo account for you, so new Yahoo emails turned up in your Gmail inbox. The setting is called Check email from other accounts (Check mail from other accounts if your Gmail is in US English), and a fancier version is called Gmailify.
Google stopped letting anyone new set these up in April 2026. If you already had it working, it carries on until January 2027, and then Google switches it off for everyone.
At the same time, Gmail will stop letting you send emails from your Yahoo address. That setting is called Send mail as.
Emails Gmail has already collected stay where they are. And two things carry on working after January: the one-off import this guide shows you, and adding Yahoo to the Gmail app on your phone.
Got other accounts linked to Gmail as well, such as BT or Hotmail? See Gmailify Is Ending: What to Do Before January 2027.
Yahoo Cut Its Free Storage to 20GB
In the summer of 2025 Yahoo cut free mailboxes from 1TB to 20GB. Yahoo says that if your mailbox is full you can’t send or receive emails until you clear some space, and anything sent to you while it’s full is lost.
Yahoo would rather you paid for more room, with plans of 100GB, 200GB (Yahoo Mail Plus) or 1TB. It’s one of the main reasons people are moving to Gmail.
Watch Out for Fake “Mailbox Full” Emails
Scammers copy these warnings to get your password. If you get one, don’t click anything in it. Sign in to Yahoo yourself to check. What Is Phishing? shows you how to spot them.
Forwarding From Yahoo Isn’t Free
Google’s own advice is to set Yahoo to forward your emails to Gmail. The catch is that Yahoo took automatic forwarding away from free accounts in 2021. It now needs a paid Yahoo plan.
So for most people the import is the way to go. I’ll show you the free ways to keep new emails coming further down.
Before You Start
You’ll need:
- A Gmail account. If you haven’t got one yet, see How to Create a Google Account.
- A computer. The import tool is in Gmail’s settings on the website. It isn’t in the Gmail app.
- Your Yahoo password. You’ll be asked to sign in to Yahoo part way through.
- Room in Gmail. Gmail’s free 15GB is shared with Google Drive and Google Photos. If your Yahoo mailbox is nearly that big, it may not all fit. See Gmail Storage Full? Here’s Why (and How to Fix it).
- Pop-ups allowed. Yahoo asks for your permission in a pop-up window. If you use a pop-up blocker, allow pop-ups for Gmail first.
How to Import Your Yahoo Mail Into Gmail
This copies your Yahoo emails, folders and contacts into Gmail. Nothing is deleted from Yahoo, so if anything goes wrong you haven’t lost a thing.
Open Yahoo and Gmail in Two Tabs
Sign in to Yahoo Mail in your web browser. Then open a new tab in the same browser and sign in to Gmail.
Being signed in to Yahoo already makes the next part go more smoothly.
Open Gmail’s Settings
In Gmail, click the Settings icon (the gear wheel) at the top right, then click See all settings.
Go to Accounts and Import
Click the Accounts and Import tab. Scroll down a little to Import mail and contacts and click the link beside it.
Enter Your Yahoo Email Address
Type your Yahoo email address into the box and click Continue.
Give Gmail Permission to Copy Your Yahoo Mail
- Click Continue.
- A Yahoo window pops up. Sign in to Yahoo if it asks you to.
- Yahoo asks whether to let ShuttleCloud Migration access your Yahoo data. Click Agree.
- When you see Authentication successful, close that window.
ShuttleCloud is the service Gmail uses behind the scenes to copy your emails. You give permission on Yahoo’s own page, so it’s fine to agree.
Choose What to Import
Gmail now asks what you want to bring across. Leave all three ticked:
- Contacts, your Yahoo address book.
- Mail, all the emails already in your Yahoo account.
- New mail for the next 30 days, anything that arrives in Yahoo over the next month.
That last one matters. It gives you a month to tell everyone your new address without missing anything in the meantime.
Click Start import, then OK.
Wait for It to Finish
That’s the hard part done. Gmail does the rest on its own, so you can close the window and carry on.
A small mailbox can be done in a few minutes. A big one can take a day or two. You can see how it’s getting on from the Accounts and Import tab.
Find Your Yahoo Emails in Gmail
Your imported emails appear under a label named after your Yahoo email address, in the menu on the left. Labels are what Gmail calls folders, see How to Create Folders in Gmail.
Your Yahoo contacts go into Google Contacts. If someone was in both address books you may end up with two entries for them. How to Add, Edit and Save Contacts in Gmail shows you how to merge duplicates.
How to Keep Getting Your New Yahoo Emails
The import brings in new Yahoo emails for 30 days. After that, anything sent to your Yahoo address stays in Yahoo. Here are your options, best first.
Use the 30 Days to Change Your Email Address
This is the one I’d do. Spend that month giving your Gmail address to everyone who emails you, and by the end of it hardly anything will still be going to Yahoo. There’s a checklist in the next section.
Add Yahoo to the Gmail App on Your Phone (Free)
The Gmail app on Android phones and iPhones can show your Yahoo inbox, and it carries on doing that after the Gmail website stops in January 2027.
- Open the Gmail app and tap your profile picture at the top right.
- Tap Add another account.
- Tap Yahoo.
- Sign in to your Yahoo account and follow the steps on screen.
Your Yahoo emails then show in the app as a separate account. Tap your profile picture to switch between the two. They stay in Yahoo, so you won’t see them in Gmail on your computer.
Forward Them From Yahoo (Paid)
Yahoo can forward (or redirect) every new email to Gmail automatically, but only on a paid plan such as Yahoo Mail Plus. Free accounts lost automatic forwarding in 2021.
If you already pay for Yahoo Mail Plus, you’ll find forwarding in Yahoo’s Settings, under More Settings and then Mailboxes. If you don’t, I wouldn’t start paying just for this.
You can still forward a single email by hand for free. Open it in Yahoo, click Forward and send it to your Gmail address.
Set Up a Yahoo Auto-Reply With Your New Address (Free)
This is a handy trick. Yahoo’s Vacation response (or Holiday response) sends an automatic reply to anyone who emails your Yahoo address. Use it to tell them your new one.
- In Yahoo Mail, click Settings, then More Settings.
- Click Out of Office Response.
- Turn on Out of Office response.
- Choose the dates you want it switched on for.
- Type your message and click Save.
For Example
I’ve moved to a new email address: yourname@gmail.com. Please use that from now on, as this mailbox is no longer checked.
Bear in mind it replies to anyone who emails you, which can include newsletters and junk. I’d leave it on for a few weeks, not for ever.
Change Your Email Address Everywhere
This is the part that takes longest, and it’s the part that matters most. Anything still going to Yahoo is easy to miss once you’ve moved.
Start with these:
- Your bank, building society and credit cards.
- Energy, water, broadband and phone providers.
- Your doctor’s surgery and dentist.
- Council, tax and other government accounts.
- Online shops, PayPal and eBay.
- Streaming services and social media, such as Netflix and Facebook.
- Work, clubs and any newsletters you actually want.
- Family and friends.
A quick way to find the rest: search your Yahoo Mail for words like account, password, statement and receipt. The companies that come up are the ones that still have your Yahoo address.
Watch Out for Logins
Some accounts use your email address as your username, such as Amazon, Facebook, or a Microsoft or Apple account. Change the email address inside those accounts, not just in your address book. Otherwise password reset emails will keep going to Yahoo.
To tell your friends, send one email from Gmail with everyone’s address in the Bcc box. That way nobody sees anyone else’s email address.
Don’t Let Your Yahoo Account Get Deleted
Don’t close your Yahoo account straight away. You’ll almost certainly find something that still goes there months later.
But don’t forget about it either. Yahoo’s rules say that if you don’t open your Yahoo Mail for 12 months, the mailbox becomes inactive, stops receiving emails and its emails are deleted. After 24 months without signing in, the whole account is deleted.
So sign in to Yahoo every few months. A repeating reminder in your calendar is the easiest way to remember.
Once you’re sure nothing important goes there any more, then you can close it.
Troubleshooting
My Yahoo Emails Have Stopped Coming Into Gmail
If you linked Yahoo to Gmail years ago, using Check email from other accounts or Gmailify, it keeps working until January 2027 and then stops for good. Changing passwords or settings won’t bring it back.
Run the import in this guide instead (it brings in 30 days of new mail), or add Yahoo to the Gmail app on your phone.
I Can’t Link My Yahoo Account to Gmail
If you’re trying to set up Check email from other accounts or Gmailify for the first time, you can’t. Google stopped taking new set-ups in April 2026. Use the import in this guide instead.
Nothing Happens When I Click Continue
A pop-up blocker is stopping the Yahoo window from opening. Allow pop-ups for Gmail, then click Continue again. In Chrome and Edge, a small blocked pop-up icon appears at the right-hand end of the address bar. Click it and choose to always allow pop-ups.
I Can’t Find Import Mail and Contacts
It’s only on the Gmail website on a computer, not in the app. Click the Settings icon, then See all settings, then the Accounts and Import tab.
If you’re using a work or school Gmail account, your organisation may have switched it off.
The Import Is Taking Ages
Leave it running. A big mailbox can take a day or two, and it carries on even when Gmail is closed. Check progress on the Accounts and Import tab.
Gmail Says My Storage Is Full
Your Yahoo emails have filled Gmail’s free 15GB, which it shares with Google Drive and Google Photos. Gmail Storage Full? Here’s Why (and How to Fix it) has the quickest ways to free up space.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I still link my Yahoo account to Gmail?
A: Not any more. Google stopped new set-ups of Check email from other accounts and Gmailify in April 2026, and switches them off for everyone in January 2027. You can still add your Yahoo account to the Gmail app on your phone, or import your Yahoo emails into Gmail.
Q: Can I still send emails from my Yahoo address in Gmail?
A: Only until January 2027. Google is removing the Send mail as setting for non-Gmail addresses then. After that, reply from Yahoo itself, or from the Gmail app on your phone if you’ve added your Yahoo account to it.
Q: Can I forward Yahoo Mail to Gmail for free?
A: Not automatically. Yahoo only offers automatic forwarding on paid plans such as Yahoo Mail Plus. The free options are Gmail’s import, which brings in 30 days of new mail, forwarding single emails by hand, or the Gmail app on your phone.
Q: Will moving to Gmail delete my Yahoo emails?
A: No. The import copies your emails. Everything stays in Yahoo until you delete it yourself.
Q: Does it move my contacts and folders too?
A: Yes. Tick the contacts option and your Yahoo address book goes into Google Contacts. Your emails arrive under a label named after your Yahoo address.
Q: How long does it take to transfer Yahoo Mail to Gmail?
A: Anything from a few minutes to a couple of days, depending on how many emails you have. You don’t need to keep Gmail open while it works.
Q: What happened to Gmailify?
A: Google is ending it. Nobody new could set it up after March 2026, and it stops working for everyone in January 2027, along with Gmail’s ability to collect emails from other accounts. Emails it has already brought into Gmail stay there.
Q: Can I keep my Yahoo email address?
A: Yes, as long as you keep the account alive. Sign in every few months, because Yahoo deletes the emails in any mailbox that nobody opens for 12 months.
Q: Is it safe to let ShuttleCloud into my Yahoo account?
A: Yes. ShuttleCloud is the service Gmail uses to copy your emails, and you give permission on Yahoo’s own page.
Summary
Moving from Yahoo Mail to Gmail is still free and still easy. Gmail’s Import mail and contacts tool copies everything across and brings in your new emails for a month.
What’s changing is everything after that. Gmail ends its link to Yahoo in January 2027, and Yahoo charges for forwarding. So use that month to change your email address everywhere, and keep your Yahoo account alive by signing in now and then.
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Gmail is Switching Off Gmailify and Check Email From Other Accounts
Nothing has been switched off yet but if you have emails from different services, such as Yahoo, Outlook etc, sent to your Gmail account, you need to check this.
You can find this and other related step by step guides in – At Home Computer Gmail Guides
Written by Jeff Porter. I’ve been fixing Windows PCs since 2010 and I’m CompTIA Network+ certified. More about me