By Manish, who makes LocalInbox · Facts checked November 2026
On a Mac, Yahoo Mail is the website or a mail app that connects over IMAP: Yahoo's help gives the IMAP and SMTP settings and sends you to Generate app password for the password. LocalInbox is a native Mac app that does this for you. Choose Yahoo Mail, paste an app password, and Yahoo sits in one inbox beside Gmail, iCloud and any IMAP account, with summaries, replies and Ask your mailbox written on your Mac.
Yahoo Mail on a Mac today
Yahoo Mail works in a browser at mail.yahoo.com. For other mail apps, Yahoo's help publishes the settings: imap.mail.yahoo.com on port 993 and smtp.mail.yahoo.com on port 465 or 587, with SSL, your full email address as the user name, and an app password from Generate app password.
How LocalInbox works with Yahoo Mail
- It fills in Yahoo's servers itself: choose Yahoo Mail, enter your address and paste the app password.
- A button opens Yahoo's Account Security page, where Generate app password is. Name the password LocalInbox.
- yahoo.com, ymail.com, rocketmail.com, yahoo.co.uk and yahoo.co.in addresses all use the same steps.
- Tracking pixels and link-tracking parameters come out of the mail you read, and remote images load only from senders you trust unless you allow them.
- The password is kept in the macOS Keychain and sent only to the mail server.
What LocalInbox adds
What every account gets in LocalInbox, Yahoo Mail included:
- Unified inbox: One inbox for Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, Fastmail, Zoho, GMX, AOL, Proton Mail Bridge and any IMAP account, each with its own colour. Native and fast.
- On-device AI: LocalInbox summarises, sorts and drafts your email with Apple's on-device model. No AI cloud unless you add your own key, and no LocalInbox server.
- Ask your mailbox: Ask a question in plain words and LocalInbox answers from your own mail, with numbered sources you can open. It runs on your Mac by default.
- To Reply and smart sorting: LocalInbox sorts mail into Primary, Updates, Promotions and your own categories, and keeps a To Reply mailbox of mail waiting on you.
- Today and the Morning brief: Today lists what needs a reply, what you're waiting on, meetings, deadlines, parcels and trips. The Morning brief sums up important mail, on your Mac.
- Waiting On and Nudge: Waiting On lists mail you sent that hasn't had an answer after three days. Nudge writes a polite follow-up for you to edit and send.
- Phishing warnings: LocalInbox flags suspected phishing and says why: a look-alike address, failed SPF, DKIM or DMARC, a misleading link, or pressure to sign in or pay.
- Search inside attachments: LocalInbox reads the text in scanned PDFs and photos on your Mac, so a receipt or a boarding pass turns up in search.
- Undo Send, Send Later and snooze: Undo Send for up to 30 seconds, Send Later, snooze, and remind me if no reply, for every account. They work even when LocalInbox is closed.
Set up Yahoo Mail in LocalInbox
- In LocalInbox, open Settings › Accounts and click Add Account (or use the welcome screen the first time).
- Choose Yahoo Mail and enter your Yahoo address.
- Click Open Yahoo Account Security, then Generate app password, and name it LocalInbox.
- Paste it into LocalInbox and click Add.
Server settings and what to do if it doesn't connect: Yahoo Mail IMAP and SMTP settings, with an app password.
Sources
Facts about Yahoo Mail's own apps were checked in November 2026 and can change. Facts about LocalInbox come from its own documentation.
Questions
Why does Yahoo need an app password?
Yahoo's help sends other mail apps to Generate app password for the password they sign in with, instead of your Yahoo password. You make one in Account Security and paste it into LocalInbox.
Do ymail.com and rocketmail.com addresses work?
Yes. Choose Yahoo Mail: they use Yahoo's servers, and LocalInbox fills them in.
Can I keep using Yahoo Mail on the web too?
Yes. LocalInbox works over IMAP, so folders, read state and sent mail stay in step between the app and Yahoo Mail on the web, and you can use both.
What does LocalInbox cost?
It's free for 7 days with every feature, with no sign-up or card. Then it's $29.99 once, for up to three devices (Mac, iPhone or iPad), with every 1.x update. There's no subscription.
Is there a LocalInbox app for Yahoo Mail on iPhone?
Yes: LocalInbox for iPhone and iPad, with the same licence as the Mac. Yahoo Mail works there the same way, with Apple Intelligence on the device. Once it's in LocalInbox on your Mac, Set Up iPhone… copies it over with a QR code, password included: https://localinbox.app/iphone/yahoo