Yahoo App Password: How to Generate One (Step by Step)
The short answer
To get a Yahoo app password, sign in to Yahoo Account Security (login.yahoo.com/account/security), open External connections, click Create app password, name it, and click Generate password. Copy it, enter it once in your email app instead of your Yahoo password, then click Done. Changing your main Yahoo password does not remove it.
Generate a Yahoo third-party app password under Account Security > External connections, then use it in Thunderbird, Outlook or Apple Mail.
On this page
- 01Where to find External connections in Yahoo
- 02How to generate a Yahoo app password: step by step
- 03Server settings to use with the app password
- 04Which email apps need a Yahoo app password?
- 05Yahoo rejects the app password: what to check
- 06How to delete a Yahoo app password
- 07Connecting Yahoo Mail to AI Emaily
You need a Yahoo app password when you add Yahoo Mail to Thunderbird, Outlook or another email app and the connection fails with 'invalid credentials' or 'authentication failed'. Your normal Yahoo password is the wrong thing to type there. An app password is a separate, randomly generated code that Yahoo creates for one third-party app (Yahoo's own help pages also call it a 3rd-party or app-specific password), and it is the password that app uses to sign in.
The option is called External connections, and it sits in Account Security rather than in Mail settings. Below: where to find it, the six steps, which apps need one, and what to check when Yahoo still rejects it.
Where to find External connections in Yahoo#
Sign in to Yahoo and open the Account Security page: login.yahoo.com/account/security. People also paste the direct address login.yahoo.com/account/security/app-passwords, which is meant to land on the app password list. If it sends you to the main Account Security page instead, scroll to the External connections section.
Yahoo's help page on app passwords does not list two-step verification as a requirement, but app passwords are mainly for accounts that use it. If you cannot see External connections or the Create app password button, turn on two-step verification in Account Security, reload the page and look again.
Use a browser you already use for Yahoo, and skip Incognito
How to generate a Yahoo app password: step by step#
It takes a few minutes. Yahoo may ask you to confirm it is you with a code before it shows the page, so keep your phone or authenticator app close.
- 1
Open Account Security
Go to login.yahoo.com/account/security and sign in. Complete any verification code Yahoo asks for before continuing.
- 2
Find External connections
Scroll to the External connections section. It lists the app passwords you have already made and holds the button for a new one.
- 3
Click Create app password
Yahoo's current help page describes this button as Create app password. Older guides call it Generate app password and mention choosing an app type from a dropdown; Yahoo's current instructions do not include that dropdown, so if you see one, pick Mail.
- 4
Name the app
Type a label you will recognise later, for example Thunderbird laptop or Outlook desktop. The name only exists so you can find and delete that one password afterwards.
- 5
Click Generate password and copy it
Yahoo shows the code once, so copy it now into your password manager or straight into your app. Paste it exactly as shown, with no spaces or line breaks added.
- 6
Enter it in your email app, then click Done
In the app's account settings, enter your full Yahoo address as the username and the app password as the password. Then click Done in Yahoo.
Server settings to use with the app password#
If the app asks for server details instead of detecting them, these are the values Yahoo publishes. The username is always your full Yahoo address. For the full set and the reasoning behind each, see Yahoo Mail IMAP and SMTP settings.
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| IMAP server | imap.mail.yahoo.com, port 993, SSL |
| SMTP server | smtp.mail.yahoo.com, port 465 or 587, SSL, authentication required |
| Username | Your full Yahoo address, for example [email protected] |
| Password | The app password, not your Yahoo sign-in password |
Which email apps need a Yahoo app password?#
It depends on how the app signs in. If it opens a Yahoo sign-in page and you approve access there, you do not type an app password. If it shows a plain username and password form, or you are setting up IMAP by hand, you do. Yahoo's help pages describe the sign-in page route as a secure sign-in method and say apps that use older sign-in technology can fail with 'Authentication failed'.
| App or situation | What to use | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Outlook for Windows and Outlook for Mac | App password | Yahoo's help page says these Outlook apps do not yet support its OAuth2 sign-in for Yahoo accounts, so add Yahoo as an IMAP account and use the app password. |
| Thunderbird | Secure sign-in, or an app password | Yahoo says that after you remove and re-add the account, Thunderbird activates the secure sign-in method on its own. If you set the account up manually and see authentication errors, use an app password. |
| Apple Mail on Mac, Mail on iPhone and iPad | Secure sign-in, or an app password | Yahoo advises removing the account and adding it again, then choosing the Yahoo provider logo to trigger the secure sign-in. A manual IMAP setup under Other still takes an app password. |
| Gmail app on Android | Depends on the route | The Gmail app can add a Yahoo address from its provider list. If you add it as a personal IMAP account instead, enter the app password. Google's setup screens change, so follow the prompts on yours. |
| AI Emaily | App password | Yahoo connects through the IMAP tab with your Yahoo address and an app password. See the [Yahoo connection guide](/docs/connect-yahoo). |
| Scripts and tools that send through Yahoo SMTP | App password | Any tool that signs in to smtp.mail.yahoo.com with a username and password uses the app password, not your normal one. |
Yahoo rejects the app password: what to check#
The usual cause is the normal Yahoo password sitting in the password field. Yahoo says apps using outdated sign-in methods can be blocked by default, and the error does not say which credential was wrong. Replace the password with an app password first, then work through the table.
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| Invalid credentials or authentication failed straight after setup | You probably entered your normal Yahoo password. Generate an app password and paste that instead. |
| The app password is rejected | It may have been mistyped or deleted. Check External connections to see whether it is still listed, then delete it, generate a new one and paste it exactly as shown, with no extra spaces. |
| No Create app password button | Use a browser you have signed in to Yahoo with for several days, not Incognito. If External connections is still missing, turn on two-step verification and reload. |
| Receiving works but sending fails | Check the SMTP server and port: smtp.mail.yahoo.com on 465 or 587, with authentication on and your full Yahoo address as the username. |
| Connection refused or timeout | Confirm imap.mail.yahoo.com on port 993 with SSL. A wrong server or port looks the same as a wrong password. |
| Yahoo shows a security alert | Review Recent activity in Account Security, confirm the new connection is you, then retry. |
Changing your Yahoo password does not remove app passwords
How to delete a Yahoo app password#
Sign in to Yahoo Account Security, open External connections, select the app password you want to remove, click Delete and confirm. The app that used it will fail to sign in on its next attempt, so generate a new one if you still need that app. Use one app password per app so you can delete one without disconnecting the others.
Connecting Yahoo Mail to AI Emaily#
If the reason you are here is to put Yahoo Mail into an AI email client, AI Emaily connects Yahoo over IMAP: open Add mailbox, choose the IMAP tab, enter your Yahoo address and the app password, and confirm the server settings from the table above. AI Emaily checks the connection before it saves. The Yahoo connection guide has the exact steps.
In AI Emaily you choose how much the AI does: Manual (AI on demand), Copilot (the AI drafts and you approve every send) or Autopilot (handles routine mail within your rules, with undo and an audit log). Drafts follow the Personal Context you set and per-client profiles. It is a paid app: there is a 7-day free trial on Pro or Autopilot and a 14-day money-back guarantee. If you also use Gmail, the same setup for Gmail is a separate guide.
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Written by
Nafiul HasanNafiul Hasan is an entrepreneur and AI automation system builder with 10+ years of experience turning messy, manual workflows into reliable automated systems. He designs and ships AI enterprise solutions end-to-end — the agent logic, the data plumbing, and the product people actually use — and founded AI Emaily to give busy professionals their attention back. He writes here from the builder's seat: what works, what breaks, and how to put AI to work without giving up control.