How to Retrieve a Yahoo Password

There are several reasons you might need to retrieve your Yahoo password. If you don't access your account often, enough time may lapse that you simply forget your password. No matter the reason, it's not a problem with Yahoo. Yahoo focuses on preventing the permanent loss of your password by building in protection from the beginning, when you initially choose your password.

Things You'll Need

• Computer with Internet access

Instructions

Prevent Password Loss During Email Registration

1. Start at the beginning to prevent password loss. Visit Yahoo's home page and click on the link that says 'Sign Up' (see Resources below).

2. Enter your name and other required information in the fields provided. Create a user ID that will identify you to other users.

3. Type in a password that is at least 6 characters long. Choose your password carefully and record it somewhere safe.

4. Choose a security question for which you can easily remember the answer, even years later. This is the single most important step if you hope to be able to recover your password at a later date.

5. Enter your birth date, postal code and any other required information.

6. Click on 'I Agree' after viewing the license agreement.

Recover Your Lost Password

1. Click on 'Forgot Your ID Or Password' in the account sign-in area of the Yahoo home page. Presuming you know your username, enter your username in the field provided.

2. Retrieve your Yahoo password using a credit card number previously used with Yahoo. You will be prompted to enter that credit card's information to recover your password. If you haven't used a credit card with Yahoo, select the appropriate box and proceed.

3. Enter your birth date, postal code and other identifying information that will match what you entered at the time you signed up for your Yahoo account. You will be given two options. You can get a new password by using your user ID, or you can enter an alternate email address and if all your information matches up, Yahoo will send you your log-in information to that address.

4. Get in-depth help by visiting Yahoo's Help page (see Resources below).

Tips & Warnings

• Keep in mind when you are working to retrieve your password that it shouldn't be an easy process. If it were easy to obtain your password, anyone could do it.

• Beware of companies advertising password recovery programs online. Such programs can be unlawful to use, as they are often employed to hack into unwitting users' accounts. They also can scam you out of money if they charge for downloads. With Yahoo, you should never need to employ a third party program to retrieve your own password.