How do I move my BT address from Yahoo?
QIssue 488’s article on ditching Yahoo was interesting, and I’d like to do this. Unfortunately, it didn’t answer a particular need I have before making the move. I do already have a Gmail account, but it lies unused, and that is because I’m unprepared to ditch my current email address — it’s on all my business cards and elsewhere, and I really need to be able to keep it going. It’s an old BT address, ending in @btinternet.com, and for which I’m still paying BT a notional amount each month to keep alive. Is there any way that I can ditch Yahoo and move to Gmail (or indeed elsewhere) while keeping my current email address active? Dr Nick Corcos
AThe advice in our feature is still useful to you but we can understand why you didn’t realise that, as we were talking specifically about Yahoo accounts and Yahoo email addresses. Your confusion arises because of the fact that for a long while BT used Yahoo as the provider for its own email service, which was called BT Yahoo Mail. Like the real Yahoo, BT Yahoo Mail users could access their messages via a webmail interface from Yahoo. However, the email addresses used BT’S @btinternet.com domain, not @yahoo.com or @yahoo.co. uk. We assume at some point you ceased being a BT customer, which is why you’re now paying to keep the email address alive — the company charges £5 a month for this service.
The good news for you is that your @btinternet.com email address is in no way tied to Yahoo or even the defunct BT Yahoo Mail service. The replacement for BT Yahoo Mail is called simply BT Mail, but BT Yahoo Mail is still referenced on the login page — and that probably didn’t help your understanding of the situation.
So, you can actually take your paid-for @btinternet.com email address anywhere you want, whether it’s Gmail or Outlook or some other email tool, as per 488’s feature. You might need BT’S server details, which you’ll find at www.snipca. com/22630, but many tools automate the setup process. In Windows 10’s Mail app, for instance, just click the Settings cog, followed by Manage Accounts, then ‘Add account’. Now click ‘Other account’, type your full email address and password and Mail will do the rest (see screenshot).