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Dear PC Doctor:
I forgot the password to my Yahoo email account and had to start over, setting up a new one. Does the old one still exist? If this has happened to me more than once, are all those accounts still active, even though I can’t get into them? How can I find them?
Thank you,
Connie
Dear Connie:
First, you are not alone! Many people have gotten locked out of their accounts and had to abandon them and start new ones. And your question is a good one – yes, those accounts probably still exist, unless it has been a year or more since you logged in. In their terms of service, Yahoo indicates that accounts that have been dormant for 12 months or more will be deleted.
How can you find all your old accounts? There are a few things you can try.
Do you have any saved log-ins? You can check by going to your browser and see what’s there. In Chrome, look for the three dots in the upper right-hand corner. Choose Settings from the pull-down menu and then Passwords. If you’ve saved any passwords in Chrome, they will be listed there under Saved Passwords. Other accounts you frequently use but have not saved passwords for will be listed below that, under Never Saved. Looking there could be useful in helping you find accounts you may have forgotten about. (If you use other browsers, they will have a similar feature in their settings.)
Try looking in the search engine you use the most. Type your favorite user names into Google, for example, and see if any accounts pop up. Also do searches for your regular name and any old email addresses you can remember. This might turn up profile pages or publicly-viewable posts you made from old accounts.
If you have a Facebook account and used those credentials to log into other accounts, you can find those, too. Log into your Facebook account. Look to the upper right. Click on the triangle. Choose Settings & Privacy and then Settings. Scroll down until you see Apps and Websites. You will see a list of outside sites that you logged in to with your Facebook user name and password. You have the option to delete them from that panel.
I hope this helps!
Until next time,
Happy Computing!
PC Doctor
Editor's Note: Questions should be directed to PC Doctor, care of the Athol Public Library, info@athollibrary.org or Athol Public Library, 568 Main St., Athol, Mass. 01331, or dropped off at the library
Posted: to Athol Library News on Mon, Apr 5, 2021
Updated: Mon, Apr 5, 2021