Managing your Yahoo Mail Inbox

Using Yahoo Mail with a web browser

While the Yahoo Mail app for smart devices has similar features, Yahoo Mail was originally designed to be used online via your web browser, so this course will focus on using Yahoo Mail on a computer.

You can follow along using any browser, but some parts of the Yahoo Mail screen may look a little different, depending what browser you use. They still work the same, however. In our demonstration, we are using the Chrome browser.

How to see new emails

To check if you have any new or unread email, visit https://mail.yahoo.com using your computer's web browser. When the Sign In screen appears, enter your Yahoo Mail address (including the @yahoo.com part) and then your Yahoo Mail password when prompted in the next screen.

eSafety tip

If you use the Chrome browser, you might find that Yahoo Mail signs in automatically. This is safe because Chrome keeps your password hidden using its password manager.

You can find out more in our Managing passwords course.

The Yahoo Mail Inbox screen

When you first sign in to Yahoo Mail, you'll see the Inbox screen with a list of emails and a menu on the left.

At the top of the menu, a large Compose button lets you create a new email. You can find out more about this in the Sending and replying to emails in Yahoo Mail activity later in this course.

Below the Compose button, Inbox is highlighted and shows emails you've received on the right. You can click Sent to see emails you've sent, and Drafts for emails you've started to write, but haven't yet sent.

The Yahoo Mail Inbox screen (cont'd)

You can click on More on the left menu to see other options, such as Archive, Spam and Deleted Items. Under Folders, you'll see a list of folders that help organise your email.

You'll learn more about all these options later in this activity, and also in the How to use Yahoo Mail's Folders and Search activity.

Yahoo Mail Inbox ads

The free version of Yahoo Mail is supported by advertising, and you'll see ads appear in your Inbox and on the Yahoo Mail screen.

The first item in the Inbox will always be an ad, not an email. You can tell it's an ad because it will have a little picture to the left of the From field, and the word Ad to the left of the Subject.

Where Yahoo Mail puts your emails

Your Inbox will contain any new emails that you haven't archived or put into a folder.

We'll show you more about the Archive feature a little later in this activity.

How to read emails

Your email is listed by date, with the most recent at the top and unread emails highlighted in bold. They show the person or company who sent the email (this information appears in the From field) and a short Subject of the email. Click any email to open it in the Read screen, which will show you the text and images in the email.

You can use the Reply or Forward buttons at the bottom of the email to respond to it.

Receiving attachments in Yahoo Mail

When you receive an email that includes an attachment, you'll see a paper clip icon to the right of the Subject to let you know. When you read the email, you'll see the attachment at the bottom in a little box.

It's safe to click on photo attachments, as Yahoo Mail will open these in a preview window that protects your computer from viruses and unwanted software. Other kinds of attachments may need to be downloaded before you can view them.

eSafety tip

It is safe to open and read the body of an email in a web browser, because the browser protects your computer. But it's important not to click on links in emails you are unsure about, or download attachments from untrusted sources. If you do download an attachment, be sure to scan it with your antivirus software before opening.

Find out more about antivirus software in our Using antivirus software course.

Downloading attachments in Yahoo Mail

If you choose to download attachments, it's safest to scan them with your computer's own antivirus software before you open them.

You can find out more about scanning attachments in our Managing attachments courses for Windows desktop and Windows laptop computers; or Apple desktop and Apple laptop computers.

Junk or spam emails

While Yahoo Mail does a pretty good job of automatically removing known junk mail or spam from your Inbox, you might still see unwanted emails there. If you consider an email in your Inbox to be junk or spam, you can report it and send it to your Spam folder.

To do this, select the email in the Inbox, then click the icon at the top of the screen that looks like a shield with an X in it and has the word Spam next to it – and then click Report Spam.

eSafety tip

When you report email as spam, Yahoo Mail will keep an eye out for future email from the same address and put it in the Spam folder automatically. Some spammers use more than one address, however, so you might have to report a familiar spammer a few times.

How to unsubscribe from an email

Depending on the email, the Spam pop up may also provide the option to Unsubscribe. Click on it if you want to stop receiving messages from an email service you've signed up to.

You can also unsubscribe by right clicking an email and selecting Unsubscribe from the menu. From the pop up that appears, click the Unsubscribe button.

eSafety tip

When you click Unsubscribe, Yahoo Mail will send a request to the email service to remove you from their mailing list.

Using this method to unsubscribe from newsletter-type emails is safer than clicking on an unsubscribe link that may be within the body of the newsletter email itself. Particularly if you don't trust the email or feel it is suspicious in any way.

How to delete an email

If you are unsure or suspicious about an email, or just don't want it any more, you can delete it. To do this:

• select the email in your Inbox
• then either click the garbage bin icon at the top of the screen or press the Delete key on your keyboard.

Deleted emails go to the Deleted Items folder (called the Trash folder in some browsers).

Using the Yahoo Mail Archive

To keep your Inbox manageable, you can move emails to the Yahoo Mail Archive. The emails that have been archived are then hidden from the Inbox, but you can still view them by selecting Archive from the menu on the left.

The Archive view looks like the regular Inbox view, but it only shows archived emails. Let's look at how to archive emails next.

Archiving emails

You can move emails to the Archive either one at a time, or several at once. To do this:

• for a single email, click on an email and then click the Archive icon at the top of the screen
• for multiple emails, click each email's selection tick-box to the left of the sender's Display Name. When you have all the emails you want selected, click the Archive icon and they will all be archived at once.

Well done!

This is the end of the Managing your Yahoo Mail Inbox activity. You've learned how to find new and unread emails, how to read emails safely, what to do with attachments and how to archive them and find them later.

Up next is the Sending and replying to emails in Yahoo Mail activity, which will explain how to send, reply and forward emails in Yahoo Mail.