How to protect an email account from expiring?

[Agx]

If I set a gmail account to check automatically the mail on a Yahoo Mail, I can prevent the expiring of the yahoo account?

[n5bb]

No. Everything I can find about this in Yahoo help indicates that you must sign in to your Yahoo account from a desktop or laptop web browser to prevent expiration.
https://help.yahoo.com/kb/mail-for-d...e-sln3057.html
http://www.emaildiscussions.com/show...26&postcount=8

Bill

[CyberSmurf]

Probably works the other way though.

I have a GMail account that is only accessed via POP or IMAP and is still active after years of not logging into webmail.

[ReuvenNY]

Originally Posted by n5bb

No. Everything I can find about this in Yahoo help indicates that you must sign in to your Yahoo account from a desktop or laptop web browser to prevent expiration.
https://help.yahoo.com/kb/mail-for-d...e-sln3057.html
http://www.emaildiscussions.com/show...26&postcount=8
Bill

I don't think it must be web browser. If you log in using email client like Thunderbird it OK too.

[n5bb]

Please read that first Yahoo help link I provided. You must sign in to the account website (not use a mobile client):

Reasons your Yahoo account was deleted
... ...
Removed due to inactivity

If you rarely use your account, it will go into an inactive state and then be deleted. Sign in to your account using a desktop or laptop computer at least once every 12 months to prevent this from happening.

Also read this sad example of someone who never logged into the Yahoo web portal:

Yahoo Mail accounts are deactivated and removed after twelve months of inactivity. Accounts are deemed "inactive" when they are not logged into for a long time regardless of whether or not the account is still receiving email. Signing in via an email client, such as Microsoft Outlook, Mac Mail, or a mobile phone mail application is not considered a valid login. You must sign in to your account on a Yahoo! web site using an Internet browser (Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, Chrome).

These are really Yahoo! (or Google) portal inactivity policies for your account, not specifically email. The Google rules have been similar over the past few years, but they used the term may terminate. Nowhere in their TOS did Google state that IMAP/POP/SMTP activity changed their requirement to login to the account via their web portal:

Account Inactivity

Google may terminate your account in accordance with the terms of service if you fail to login to your account for a period of nine months.

At another newer page Google doesn't show the terminate phrase. I would never trust a free account provider to be lenient in their interpretation of rules, so my suggestion is to sign into your Google account (which often does not involve email) every 9 months to prevent loss of access.

Bill