Yahoo Mail Users Must Clear Space or Upgrade by August 27 to Avoid Losing Access

If you’re one of the millions still clinging to a Yahoo Mail account you made back in the early 2000s, your time to act is now. Starting August 27, 2025, Yahoo will begin enforcing new storage limits that could lock you out of your inbox if you don’t clean it up or pay for more space.

And no, that email you got warning about storage overages isn’t a phishing scam. It’s very real.

What’s changing with Yahoo Mail?

Yahoo Mail is cracking down on bloated inboxes and pushing users toward paid storage plans. Starting August 27, if you’re over the free 20 GB storage limit, you’ll be unable to send or receive emails until you either delete enough data or pay for more space.

Here’s what the new storage plans look like:

20 GB , Free: For light users who don’t receive a ton of attachments
100 GB , $1.99/month: Ideal for people who regularly get photos, newsletters, and PDFs
1 TB , $9.99/month: Tailored for heavy users and long-time Yahoo veterans with inboxes dating back to dial-up days
Yahoo Mail Plus , 200 GB + Premium Features: Combine this with a storage plan and get up to 1.2 TB, an ad-free inbox, priority customer service, and better privacy tools

The new pricing model isn’t just about storage. It’s a clear move by Yahoo to start monetizing a platform that many of us have used for decades without spending a cent.

Why you’re getting the email alert

Users with overstuffed inboxes are being flagged by Yahoo’s system. If your storage usage exceeds the free 20 GB limit, you’re now on the clock. The original notification email some users received even had incorrect Canadian pricing, but Yahoo quickly followed up with corrected U.S. prices.

Bottom line: the deadline is August 27. Miss it, and your inbox essentially freezes.

What you can do inside Yahoo to avoid paying

Not ready to cough up money for storage? You don’t have to, at least not if you’re willing to put in some digital elbow grease.

1. Use Yahoo’s built-in cleanup tools

Go to your Yahoo Mail settings and access the storage dashboard. Sort and delete large messages, especially ones with attachments. Here’s how to do it fast:

Select emails with the checkbox (or use the bulk-select tools)
Use the filter options to select all, read, unread, starred, or unstarred emails
Delete in chunks, by default, Yahoo selects 100 emails at a time, but you’ll get the option to select all matching emails

For folders other than Inbox (like old custom folders), you can:

Hover over the folder
Click the three-dot “More” icon
Select Delete all emails

2. Target large attachments

In newer Yahoo Mail:

Use the search: has:attachment larger:10MB to surface bulky messages
Delete what you don’t need
Unfortunately, Yahoo doesn’t let you sort by attachment size, so you’ll have to scroll manually

In older Yahoo Mail:

Click the advanced search arrow
Check “Has attachment”
Manually review and delete large files

3. Empty your Trash and Spam

Deleted emails still count toward your storage unless you permanently clear them out.

On desktop:

Click Trash → “Empty Trash”
Click Spam → “Delete all spam messages”

On mobile:

Tap the ☰ icon
Go to Trash or Spam
Tap ••• → “Empty folder”

4. Check your storage usage

Stay on top of how much space you’re using:

On desktop:

Click the Settings gear → “More Settings”
Storage usage shows at the bottom left

On mobile:

Tap your profile icon
Your storage appears under your email address

What you can do outside Yahoo

If you’re tired of inbox micromanagement, there are options that don’t involve handing over your credit card just yet.

1. Back up your important emails

Option 1: Forward to another account

Open an email
Click Forward
Send it to a Gmail or backup account

Option 2: Save as files

Open the email
Click the ••• menu → “View Raw Message”
Save it as a .txt or .eml file to your computer or cloud storage

2. Try a new email service

If you’ve had it with Yahoo’s storage shenanigans, it might be time to switch. A few options worth considering:

Gmail: Free, reliable, and integrates with nearly everything
StartMail: Privacy-focused and less cluttered, though not free
ProtonMail or Tutanota: Encrypted and secure alternatives for privacy-conscious users

3. Set up auto-forwarding from Yahoo

Still want to keep Yahoo as a backup? Here’s how to automatically forward emails:

Log in via desktop
Go to Settings → More Settings → Mailboxes
Click your email address, then scroll to Forwarding
Enter your new email address
Choose to “Store and forward” or “Forward only”
Click Verify, then confirm it from the new email inbox

Free Yahoo accounts support forwarding, but be aware that some marketing or spam emails may not forward properly.

Final thoughts

This isn’t just a cleanup prompt. Yahoo is drawing a line in the sand: either tidy up, pay up, or risk losing access.

You’ve got three solid options:

Clean out your inbox and stay under 20 GB for free
Pay a small monthly fee to keep decades of digital history
Or migrate to a provider better suited for modern needs

Just don’t do nothing. If you’re still over the limit by August 27, your inbox will stop working, no sending, no receiving, no warning beyond what you’ve already got.

For longtime users, this feels like the end of an era. But it might also be the perfect excuse to finally let go of that dusty Yahoo address you’ve been dragging around since the days of dial-up.