How to Recover Your Hacked Yahoo Account Quickly

This wikiHow guide teaches you how to recover and secure a hacked Yahoo email account on any device. You can use your recovery phone number or email address to do so, and you can perform this process on both the desktop and mobile versions of Yahoo Mail.

Recovering Your Hacked Yahoo Account

If you can't log in, go to Yahoo's Sign-in Helper in any web browser to recover your password. Change your password immediately to lock out the hacker, check your security settings, and enable two-step verification. If you can still log in, go to your security settings and change your password to kick out the hacker.

Section 1 of 5:

Recovering Your Account

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1
Go to Yahoo's Sign-in Helper in any web browser. If your Yahoo account was hacked and you can no longer sign in, go to login.yahoo.com/forgot in any web browser. This URL will point you to Yahoo's Sign-in Helper.
- If you are using a phone or tablet, follow these steps in a web browser instead of the Yahoo Mail app.
- If opening Yahoo Mail takes you to your inbox, the hacker hasn't signed you out. You can skip ahead to Securing Your Account (Mobile) or Securing Your Account (Desktop).
2
Enter your phone number or recovery email and click Continue. In the text box in the middle of the page, type in the phone number or recovery email address you have on file for your Yahoo account.
- If you enter your phone number, you'll need to enter the first and last name associated with your account.
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3
Retrieve your verification code. Click Get code, then do the following:
- Phone number: Open your phone's messaging app, open the text from Yahoo, and review the 6-character code in the message.
- Email address: Open your recovery email address inbox, open the email from Yahoo, and copy the 6-character code in the email.
4
Enter your verification code and click Verify. Type the 6-character verification code you retrieved into the text box in the middle of the page. Click Next to continue.
- Yahoo will automatically capitalize any letters.
5
Select your account if prompted. If you have multiple Yahoo accounts that use your phone number or recovery email address, click the one you want to recover to recover your account.^{[1]
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Section 2 of 5:

Securing Your Account (Mobile)

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If you don't have a profile picture, you'll see an icon with your initials instead. A menu will expand.
You'll find this option near the top of the pop-out menu.
3
Tap Account below your Yahoo Mail address.
4
Tap Security. If prompted to enter your password (or, on an iPhone, your Touch ID), do so before proceeding.
5
Scroll down to view your recent activity. You'll find the "Recent account activity" header at the bottom of this page. Review your recent account activity for anything suspicious.
6
Change your password. Tap Change password and follow the on-screen instructions to create a new password. Once changed, you (or the hacker) will be logged out of any place where you were signed in before.
7
Enable two-step verification. Two-step verification requires you to have access to both your Yahoo login information and a separate form of identification (e.g., your phone or a recovery email address) to log in, making it impossible for anyone who doesn't have access to your phone or recovery address to hack your account.^{[2]
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- Tap Turn on under "2-Step Verification."
- Select a verification method. You can receive your sign-in codes as a push notification in the Yahoo Mail app on your phone or tablet, as a text message to your phone number, via an authenticator app, or with a physical security key.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup.
8
Check your recovery email and phone number information. At the top of the "Security" page, you'll see "Additional emails" and "Phone numbers" under the "Ways of signing in" header. If you see any unfamiliar email addresses or phone numbers here, tap either Additional emails or Phone numbers, then tap the trash can icon to remove them.
- Make sure you still have access to the email address and password listed here. If not, click Add email and Add phone number to add new ones.
9
Check all of your Yahoo Mail settings. After securing your account, go through your Yahoo Mail settings to ensure nothing looks out of the ordinary. The hacker may have changed your name or forwarded your messages to another location. To change your settings, tap the back button until you're at the "Accounts" menu, then tap Settings.

Section 3 of 5:

Securing Your Account (Desktop)

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You'll see it at the top-right corner of your inbox when you're signed in.
Doing so opens a new page with your Yahoo account information listed.
It's near the bottom of the page.
4
Review your recently signed-in locations. You'll see a list of all the locations where your Yahoo account is logged in.
- If your account has been compromised, you'll likely see a location you don't recognize in this list. Changing your password will automatically log you out of your account on all devices except the one you're using.
Click Change your password above the sign-in list, and follow the on-screen instructions to create a new password.
It's at the top of the page.
7
Turn on Two-Step Verification. Two-step verification is a feature that makes it impossible for someone with just your login information to hack your account—they would also need access to your phone or your recovery email address.^{[3]
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- Click Turn on under "2-Step Verification" on the right side of the page.
- Select a verification method. You can receive your sign-in codes as a push notification in the Yahoo Mail app on your phone or tablet, as a text to your phone number, using an authenticator app, or using a physical security key.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup.
- If you clear your current browser's cookies or remove a signed-in location from the Recent activity menu, you'll have to re-validate your account with two-step verification the next time you log in.
8
Check your recovery email and phone number information. At the top of the "Security" page, you'll see "Additional emails" and "Phone numbers" under the "Ways of signing in" header. If you see any unfamiliar email addresses or phone numbers here, click either Additional emails or Phone numbers, then select the trash can icon to remove them.
- Make sure you still have access to the email address and password listed here. If not, click Add email and Add phone number to add new ones.
After securing your account, go through your Yahoo Mail settings to ensure nothing looks out of the ordinary. The hacker may have changed your name or forwarded your messages to another location. To access your settings, go back to your Yahoo Mail inbox and click Settings in the top right corner.

Section 4 of 5:

If You Can't Recover Your Account

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Contact Yahoo Customer Care. Yahoo recommends speaking with their Customer Care team for expert tips on getting back into your hacked account.^{[4]
X
Research source} You have a few options for contacting them:
- Call (800) 745-0739 for premium (paid) support.^{[5]
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- Send a message to Yahoo Customer Care through their Facebook Page.
- Send a direct message on X/Twitter to @YahooCare.

Section 5 of 5:

Signs Your Account Was Hacked

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1
You're not getting any new emails. If you haven't been notified of any new emails in a while (especially on your mobile device), you may have been hacked.
If your password stops working but you haven't changed it, your account may be compromised.
If your friends, family, and others are receiving emails from "you" that you didn't send, a hacker may be trying to spam or scam them.
Hackers may change your name or customize other settings in Yahoo Mail if they take over your account. Check your email filters, signature, auto-forwarding address, and blocked addresses for changes.
If you see any unfamiliar locations and devices in your recent activity list, somebody has likely gained access to your account.

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Can I recover my account if the hacker already changed the password and secret questions?

Community Answer

Not easily. If you have your account linked to another email account it might be possible to reset the password. Personally, I would recommend contacting Yahoo customer service.

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Yahoo is requesting money and permission to turn my account over to someone to recover it. What should I do?

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That is a scam. Delete it and move on.

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How do I stop spam emails after I recovered my hacked Yahoo account?

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Unsubscribe to all newsletters and delete all of the newsletter emails and spam.

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Yahoo has been severely compromised in the past, with literally billions of accounts being hacked.^{[6]
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Most people admit to using the same password for various accounts. If your Yahoo email account was hacked, change your password for all accounts, including social media, if those accounts use the same password.

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