Back in 2013, Yahoo Mail set itself apart by offering users a staggering 1 terabyte of free mailbox storage — far more than anyone could realistically fill. But that cushion is about to disappear. On August 27, 2025, Yahoo Mail accounts will drop to 20GB of free storage, putting long-dormant inboxes at risk of bouncing mail permanently. For marketers and senders, this change is more than a footnote — it’s a shift worth acting on now.
It was autumn 2013 when Yahoo generously gifted users a whopping 1 terabyte of mailbox storage. That’s over 1,000 GB! (Need I remind you my college laptop had one single gigabyte of storage? And I was grateful for it!) That’s enough room to stash every chain email warning you of imminent death if ignored, every MySpace alert, and every “FW: FW: FW: Funny Cats” thread from your aunt (who doesn’t even like cats!) that you’ve been hanging onto since you first opened the account, with space left over to sign up for Twitter, Vine, and Pinterest notifications.
We lived in digital hoarding bliss for over a decade. Those were the halcyon days.
But like side parts and skinny jeans, all good things must come to an end. As of August 27, 2025, Yahoo’s free mailboxes are permanently on a data diet: from 1 TB down to 20 GB. (Still more than Gmail’s 15!) If your (or your customers’) Yahoo account is currently groaning under the weight of years of promos, newsletters, and nostalgia… well, some of it’s about to get evicted.
When a Yahoo mailbox hits its limit, it stops receiving mail. That means your lovingly crafted campaign will bounce if it lands in a full mailbox. Sure, you can retry later, but many of these addresses will never be cleared out. Some will just bounce indefinitely until they get permanently deactivated and bounce even harder. If you’re already sunsetting inactive users and sending based on engagement, you’re probably in good shape! But just to be safe, here’s a checklist to review before the cutoff:
Well, actually it’s not so cold. Mailbox providers change storage limits for their own reasons, but the deliverability advice stays the same:
If someone’s not reading your email, you probably shouldn’t be sending it!
And if you’re still clinging to hope that a 2010-era promo in someone’s mailbox will eventually get one glorious click?
I’ll put it in 2013 terms so you understand: You’re amazeballs, but not everything deserves a throwback Thursday. They’re gone, bae.
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