Yahoo! Mail Blog, UK and Ireland

I’ve been asked before about how to set Yahoo Mail as your default email. Up until now, the only way that I knew, was to download and install the complete Yahoo! Messenger client, and install the Yahoo! Extras that come along with it. But I’m happy to tell you that, since Firefox 3 was released recently, there’s a new and much easier way to make Yahoo! Mail be the default mail when you see those clickable email addresses.

Here’s how to set up Yahoo! Mail to be your default email application using Firefox 3:

1. Download and install Firefox 3
2. After installation and when you have Firefox 3 up and running, click Tools, then Options
3. In the options window that pops up, click the Applications Tab
4. In the box labeled “Search” type Mail
5. In the “Action” drop down box, select “Use Yahoo Mail”
6. Finally, click “OK”

Here’s a little slide show that shows you all the steps:

That’s all there is to it. The next time you click on an email address link (also know as a mailto: link) when using Firefox 3, it will take you right to the compose window in Yahoo Mail.

Happy emailing,
Andrew - Yahoo! Mail Team

I get some comments on this blog, now and again, saying that “I have to sign in every time I want to get to my mail, even though I’ve checked the box…” It’s not many of you, but enough that I thought I would take this opportunity to see if I can offer some suggestions on how to keep yourself signed into Yahoo! Mail for up to 2 weeks.

So if it’s your wish to remain logged into Yahoo! Mail for two weeks, but are having difficulty doing so, I’ve created a help page for you in the Yahoo Mail Help pages. You can read the detailed instructions here: http://help.yahoo.com/l/uk/yahoo/mail/classic/account/account-20.html

Some of the instructions are a bit technical, so if you’re not technically inclined you might want to get your resident computer nerd to give you a hand. Here is the abriged version:

1. Check the box “Keep me signed in” on the login page of Yahoo! Mail.
2. Make sure you are using the correct URL/web address to access Yahoo! Mail.
3. Check your account settings to make sure that you have your account set to keep you logged in for 2 weeks.
4. Make sure that you have your Internet browser set to accept “cookies” from Yahoo.
5. Make sure that your anti-virus/firewall software isn’t blocking or deleting you Yahoo! cookies.

After confirming those five steps you should now be kept logged in for 2 weeks at a time. Remember – DO NOT do this if you use a computer in an Internet Café, or you share your computer with someone else. Finally, I know this is a pretty technical post, so I apologize if some of the instructions above seem fairly complicated.

Happy emailing.
Andrew - Yahoo! Mail Team