Can't change Yahoo email account password.

[dlschonl]

Until moving to my new home about a year ago I had DSL through ATT (orginally SBC). Prior to starting DSL (with then SBC), I had a yahoo account that I used for my emails. When I started DSL, the yahoo account was merged with my sbc account. I moved a year ago and stopped my DSL. Now I need to change my yahoo password because it has been hacked. But when I go to change my password in yahoo it sends me to ATT to change my password. But my ATT account is no longer active. How can I unmerge my Yahoo account?

Thanks!

[Lucretia_1 · Accepted solution]

Hi dlschonl,

We understand your concern and realize the inconvenience you are experiencing.

After canceling your High Speed Internet service, you will receive complimentary Dial service for 60 days, which includes full access to your AT&T Yahoo! account.

If you attempt to log into the Yahoo! network (att.yahoo.com) using your Yahoo! ID and password after 60 days, you will be given the option to unmerge your Yahoo! ID.

If after 100 days you have not unmerged your Yahoo! ID, it will automatically be unmerged.

Please refer to the link given below for additional information

www.att.com/esupport/article.jsp?sid=KB400295 

If you are aware of the current password of your Yahoo id, then the same password would be used for the AT&T id (since they are merged). Hence, you can use the same password to sign in to your AT&T id and change the password.

For further assistance, you can access http://support.att.com/freememberid  which is the support website for free AT&T member ids (accounts which are no longer active with AT&T).

[ocean_101]

Did you ever resolve the issue?

[kevrhon]

The solution is not in your response.  The pages you link to contain instructions that do not match the page to which they refer.  It should not be so difficult to change my password.  My AT&T e-mail account was hacked and used to send malicious e-mail to several of my contacts.  I need to change the password to secure my account and prevent this from happening again.  I no longer have DSL with AT&T, and logging in with my mobile account doesn't get me anywhere.  I and apparently dozens of others would appreciate some additional instruction or follow-up.

[garyesmond]

Having a similar issue. Yahoo account was evidently merged with ATT at some point and yahoo.com e-mail password is now compromised (people in my address book are getting spammed). When I log into the account on yahoo.com and go to the link to change my password I get redirected to an ATT page that says "AT&T Internet Services has made a change for the Better" and "We're moving!" with absolutely zero helpful information on it.

After some googling I read that to change the associated yahoo.com password you simply need to change the password of the underlying AT&T account. Well I have had two AT&T accounts (one for my old traditional DSL service which I cancelled late last year) and another with my new DSL account I established at the same time, which is naked DSL without a phone line.

I was able to log into both of those accounts on att.com and change the passwords on both. Unfortunately neither one made any difference whatsoever on the yahoo.com account--it's still only accepting the old, compromised password and the link to change it still redirects me to the "We're Moving" page on AT&T's web site.

I've tried calling in and the phone reps are beyond worthless in this regard. They don't seem to understand anything about yahoo integration or claim that they do but the things they try to do to fix it don't work. I'm really hoping that the reps in this forum know more specifically about problems pertaining to yahoo integration and can actually help. I've already PM'ed Alex this morning so here's to hoping that can get some results. I will post back here if I get any resolution.

But seriously, this yahoo mail "merging" thing is a debacle. I wish I could "un-merge" my Yahoo account and just have it be a normal yahoo mail account, but apparently that isn't possible? If it is, please let me know!!

Thanks.

[scottsl]

I'm having the same issues but I never had a Yahoo! account. I started with sbcglobal.net and it use to be easy to manage account information. I CANNOT figure out how to manage subaccount information any longer. I say edit subaccounts and it takes me to att.com and I need to login there (with a separate user name / password). Then I can see all the subaccounts but CANNOT edit, create, or delete any of them. The redesign of the entire AT&T site to manage on-line accounts is horrible...so much that I'm about to drop AT&T and I use them for everything.

I would love to know how  to manage subaccount information now.

[Gadget_1]

There appears to be no way to edit subaccount information in the "Edit Features" box.

For all my subaccounts, "Browser Language Preference" = Spanish.  I have no idea where that came from, but apparently has no effect.

Looks like you can create an email alias and change the password, but didn't try that.  Haven't tried to create a new subaccount either.

I was able to change the password for a subaccount when I kept getting "Invalid user name or password" errors.  Then it took several tries to sign in with the new password, and only after getting the sign-in where you have to try to read the squiggly characters and enter them correctly.  Ugh!

Agree with you -- account management is a convoluted mess!

And if you think that's bad, try setting up a subaccount to forward email to another att.net account!

[Annabell123]

I too am having the same issue.  My sbcglobal email account was hacked into and spam was sent to all my contacts.  I want to change my password ASAP but cannot figure out how to do this.  I cannot do it on my mail page, it takes me to the  AT&T site which is a complete convoluted mess where I have to log in with another log in name and password.  If I don't get some answers soon, I will drop AT&T.  

[ocean_101]

Unfortunately, I have concluded that AT&T does not want to adress this issue and just chooses to ignor it. If you are in the same boat as I am, e.g. you once merged a yahoo acoount and subsequently left AT&T, you are on your own. Despite, unfortunately still beeing cell phone customer, AT&T told me "we are no longer resposible for your account and can't help you." Yahoo says since the account was merged, AT&T maintains the account information as they are resposbile. Now, I understand the undstructions of the forum adiministator and the account should have automatically been unmerged 90 days after I quite the service. But for some reason my account was never unmerged. Despite hours with various departemtns (DSL, mobile, webhosting), nobody was able to help. I know I am not alone with this porblem but it probabley cheaper for AT&T to just ignor it rather than overing some basic custmer service. I gues the only solution for all of us is to change e-mails. Sad but true. 

[garyesmond · Accepted solution]

OK guys, with Jam's help here I got a call from someone named Sam in the Social Media department. He logged into my yahoo account with me and was able to verify what I was seeing. While he wasn't able to solve the problem himself I do have to give him kudos for staying on the line with me as I got transferred all around AT&T's different departments trying to find someone who understands this issue.

Ultimately, after talking with someone in DSL support for the state of California, I got the pieces of the puzzle necessary to solve this issue. I'm posting here in the hopes that this may help others with a yahoo account being held hostage by AT&T.

So the key to this whole thing is that you need to figure out what AT&T account the yahoo account is merged with, and one big issue is that AT&T can't (or won't--not sure which) tell you what it is. If you can't figure out what AT&T account your yahoo account is merged with then you won't get anywhere. If you have DSL or Uverse service then you created an AT&T account when you set up those services--either something like johndoe@att.net or one of their subdomains (in my case it was sbcglobal.net).

Most cases are fairly straightforward, in that the yahoo account is merged with whatever your primary AT&T account is--I think those are the cases where the yahoo account gets unmerged automatically. 

In my case, somehow I had a sub-account to my main sbcglobal.net account. When you login to your account on att.com there's a tab for "manage subaccounts" and I had an account listed there. One of the options next to it was "Delete Account". So I clicked that and confirmed.

Then, low and behold, when I logged back into my Yahoo account, I was presented with a message telling me the linked AT&T account had been deleted and the only option presented to me was a big "unmerge" button to convert my yahoo account back into a free yahoo account. I gleefully clicked the button and low and behold all of the AT&T branding was gone and I was able to get my password changed.

So the key for getting a Yahoo account unmerged is to determine exactly what att.net (or sbcglobal.net or one of the other AT&T domains) your yahoo account is merged with. Unfortunately you're on your own to figure out what AT&T account that is. But once you know the AT&T account it's merged with, you just need to delete that account and the yahoo account unmerges automatically.

Hope this helps someone out there. Probably not a solution for all the various problems people are having with yahoo but it did help me so I thought I would post it here.

And just a kudos that PM'ing the mods here was helpful. Even though the rep who my case was escalated to couldn't help me directly, I got the impression that he was going to stay with the case until it was resolved--which was a lot better than me just cold-calling various departments on my own.

Cheers.

[gent500 · Accepted solution]

I was in the same situation as the original poster.  I created a free Yahoo email account in 2003.  In 2004, I got AT&T DSL and was given an sbcglobal.net email that was merged with my Yahoo account.  I cancelled my DSL account three months ago, but my accounts remain merged.  My contacts also started receiving spam that appeared to be sent from my email account, so I needed to change my password.  But I quickly found out that it was nearly impossible to change my password because my Yahoo account was still merged with my AT&T (sbc) account.  After a lot of time and effort, I finally spoke with someone at AT&T today that knew exactly what to do.  After verifying my identity, she reset my password and sent me to a specific web address.  She told me that I should save the address because I could go to it at any time in the future to change my password.  Just go to http://tinyurl.com/37s7eba .  When you get to this page, you must enter your sbcglobal.net (AT&T) email that was merged with your Yahoo account, along with your password.  After you do this, you will be taken to a page where you can change your password.  When you change your password from this page, it will also change simultaneously change the password for your Yahoo email.

[ccain1465]

It worked!!!!!! Thank you.  It took a while for me to figure out which account Yahoo was linked with, but once I found it, I had my password changed in 2 mins.  The account was actually an old account from when I had DSL a couple of years ago.

Thanks again for that web site!

[FlGdNbr]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!  After spending nearly an hour trying to change my email password (because someone hacked into my email & sent nasty emails to my entire address book!!!), I found your solution and IT WORKED!!!!  

I don't know WHY they make it so hard to do something as simple as changing your password, but thanks for publishing the solution!

[westy57]

thank you soooooo much.   i have been on my computer all day and no luck changing my password.   And with your help, i did it within a couple minutes.    thanks again.  Have a great day and a merry christmas !!

[RanXerox]

Any idea how to do the same with email sub accounts?

[diprosew]

RE: "Browser Language Preference" = Spanish

You would think that the programmers would have enough common sense to set the default "Browser Language Preference" to English since it is the primary language spoken here in the US, but NO!

The can't even post how to change this in there FAQ's!!

To change  "Browser Language Preference" to English simply:

1. Log out of your primary account.
2. Log into each sub-account as needed.
3. Click your hyperlinked user name in the top-right-hand corner where it says "Hi ..."
4. Now at the bottom of your "User Information", click the "Edit User Information" 
• Here you can edit all info for the sub account.
5. Repeat for all other sub accounts.

[bstaab]

Many thanks to gent500 for posting the link. I was very frustrated with this password reset issue today. And most frustrating was AT&T Tech Support - they were not helpful at all. The Yahoo / AT&T model is clearly broken.

[wbhifi]

You're a life saver!

I'd wasted two hours on the stupid issue before I finally came to the link you posted! 

[richjmay]

garyesmond, when you unmerged your yahoo account after deleting your at&t account, did you lose your yahoo email data? i'm faced with the same situation and i really want to maintain several years of emails. thanks.

[jazzzbone]

Gent's Post saved me.  Kudos to him!  I was having the same issue from an SBCGlobal hijack of my yahoo account from about 10 years ago.

[rms2]

I had the same problem.  The link provided by Gent500 worked, in that it helped me change my Yahoo password! 

I then called customer service, went through about 5 different reps, but FINALLY was transferred to the "AT&T Yahoo Escalation team" who patiently worked with me to remove the link between my Yahoo account and an ancient SBCGLOBAL account that I forgot that I ever had.  The rep there, Dion, was very nice, patient, and courteous.  In 24 hours, my Yahoo account should be mine again, and no longer held captive by AT&T/SBC.  I will post again tomorrow to verify the account was really released.

So if you want your Yahoo account back, save yourself some time and ask for the "AT&T Yahoo escalation team".  When they answered, he said "AT&T advanced technical solution help desk", or something along those lines.  Don't give up!  You need to know the old SBCGLobal.net or ATT.net email address, and the service address, and your customer code (3 digits after your phone number on your bill).

[rms2]

Success!  I logged into Yahoo this morning, and was presented with a message saying that my "AT&T Premium services" were discontinued, and there was a button that said "Unmerge"!  My Yahoo account is now just a plain old yahoo account.  Thank God!

My Question is what can't they have that as an option without spending 5 hours on the phone?  Just have a button at the bottom of my profile screen that says "Unmerge"?  Sufficient warnings about "loss of premium features" can be presented, and if the user chooses to unmerge, free the up the yahoo account?

No the less, my problem is solved.  Thanks, Dion!

[bajaskier]

No go. According to Yahoo and AT&T , my accounts are not merged. There is no link to change password on Yahoo. If I go through the other routes , it always goes back to AT&T which changes my AT&T password, NOT my Yahoo password.

Hours on the phone with AT&T, Hours on the phone with Yahoo. Each refers me to the other with no help at alll!!!!!!

[lmdonnelly]

Only problem is, I'm afraid to delete the account. I see it there, but if I delete and go into Yahoo and it's not there what do I do?

[basketball1977]

gent500,

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

I started getting yahoo email notifications that folks were signing into my yahoo account from Mexico, India and Phillipines. Needless to say it was not me!! 

I hurried to change my email password; trivial I thought... Wrong!

I am very upset at how cumbersome it is to change email password.

I wasted precious time trying to figure out a simple task.

Shame on you ATT

Hurray for gent500

now I have to go survey the damage done by folks highjacking my email account

[ziola1039]

I am getting an error on this page:

Sorry! Services are unavailable at this time

[Ferdball]

Didn't work for me.

[Talita11]

This is reply to member: lmdonnelly

I believe you are in the att.com website and are saying something like this:

Memember ID: xxxx@sbglobal.net    Delete email

Click on delete email, it will not affect anything to your yahoo account. You will not loose anything if that is what you are afraid. I did it and it worked. My accounts are unmerge.

[Talita11 · Accepted solution]

Hi Everyone,

After arguing with ATT the tech support said, they cannot unmerged. They stopped doing it 3 years ago. As all of us know they are no help at all. They might not be able to do in their end but they should provide us with the walk through steps on how we can do it by ourselves. I bet they get calls with the same issue and they should figure out the answer so they can pass along the whole team. Next time they get a call they can say here is how you can do it yourself. I should work for the IT team since I found the solution.

Tips before starting: My account was linked to sbcglobal.net. Log out from your yahoo email account.

Here are the steps:

1. Log into www.att.com

2. Type your User ID XXXX@sbcglobal.net

3. Type password: should be the same one you use to log into your yahoo account

4. Under the tab Profile --> you will see: Memember ID: xxxx@sbglobal.net       Delete Email

5. Click Delete email & wait few minutes

6. Go to yahoo mail; type your yahoo ID, password

7. A message will come up where it ask you if you would like to unmerge

8. Click unmerge

9. DONE your accounts are unmerged.

Hope this helps!!

[bellenoitac]

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Finally an easy solution. Thanks for posting.