When my mom’s Cox email address was transitioned to Yahoo as part of a planned migration transferring Cox email addresses to the Yahoo Mail program, she couldn’t access her email for several days from Microsoft Outlook or from the Apple Mail app, and asked me to fix this issue for her. Once word got out that I was able to fix it, three more people contacted me asking for help, and I ended up organizing a series of notes on tips for transferring Cox email to Yahoo email. After reading a story in the Washington Post about a woman with low vision who experienced similar barriers that only got resolved after contacting a journalist, I started reorganizing my notes to turn them into a post for people who are still struggling with this issue. Here are my tips for transferring Cox email to Yahoo email across multiple platforms compatible with low vision assistive technology.
Disclaimer
Information and resources are provided on an “as-is” basis and are for informational purposes only. Veroniiiica, LLC is not responsible for any errors, product reliability, data loss, damages, software failures, hardware damage, or other issues that may arise from the use of this material. It is your responsibility to conduct your own due diligence to ensure you have obtained complete, accurate information about products, technology, and services mentioned in this post.
Why isn’t my Cox email address working?
While Cox announced in advance that they would be transferring management of Cox email addresses to Yahoo at some time in the future, consumers were not informed of when this transition would be taking place and instead suddenly discovered that their Cox emails had stopped sending/receiving messages, and that they had to set up their email account again with Yahoo. This is because Yahoo uses different servers and settings than Cox did, so users have to re-configure their accounts to use the new servers. While users email addresses did not change, the way that they access their email has changed with the server migration.
Creating a new Yahoo password and setting up 2FA
When activating a Cox email account on the Yahoo mail website for the first time, users will be prompted to log in with their previous Cox password and then create a new password on the Yahoo site. They will also be prompted to set up two step verification, also known as two factor authentication (2FA), which requires users to either type in a text message code or use an authenticator application in addition to typing their password when logging into their Yahoo web account. This is only for logging in on the web account/in the web browser, as a different verification system is used for third-party apps like Outlook or Mail, though users will need to set this up before they can access the third-party verification tools.
Since text messaging is generally considered accessible for people with low vision because of options to enlarge/adjust text, have text read out loud with a screen reader or text-to-speech, or copy/paste text from another application, I’ll share the steps for setting up 2FA for a mobile phone. Message and data rates may apply depending on the phone plan.
- Sign in to your Yahoo account, if you haven’t already. You can sign in with your old Cox email password if you haven’t changed it yet, or use the new Yahoo password that you set after logging in for the first time
- In the top-right corner of the screen, select your name, which will open a drop-down menu with several options. Within that drop down menu, select Account Info
- The Account Info page will open with a left sidebar showing multiple sub-menu options. Select Account Security
- Scroll to the heading How you sign into Yahoo and select the Manage link next to Two-step verification.
- A new popup window will appear prompting the user to enter their phone number. It must be a phone number that can receive text messages, as landline phones are not supported
- After entering the mobile number, select the enter key or the next button
- Within a minute, you should receive a text message with a six-digit certification code. Type or copy/paste this number into the popup window.
- Once the number is typed correctly, two-step verification will be enabled for Yahoo mail
Related links
Generate an app password for Outlook, Mail, etc
In order to use Outlook, Apple Mail, or any application that isn’t Yahoo mail or the web browser to check email, users will need to generate a separate app password for each of their applications. Instead of typing in their account password when logging in to an email application, they will either type or copy/paste the password generated by Yahoo into the password field. I go into more details on where to type this password in other sections.
To generate an app password for Yahoo mail:
- Sign in to your Yahoo account in the web browser
- In the top-right corner of the screen, select your name, which will open a drop-down menu with several options. Within that drop down menu, select Account Info
- The Account Info page will open with a left sidebar showing multiple sub-menu options. Select Account Security
- Scroll to the heading How you sign into Yahoo and under the sub-heading Other ways to sign in, select the link Generate and manage app passwords
- Enter the name of the app that this code will be used for, such as Outlook, iPhone, etc
- Yahoo will generate a 16-letter code, which can be typed or copy/pasted into the password field when signing into your email account in another application. This does not replace the Yahoo account password that is used for signing in on a web browser, but may be requested for certain applications.
- The code itself is displayed with spaces, but the actual app password itself is all sixteen lowercase letters with no spaces at all.
For users with low vision or visual impairments, I recommend generating all of the app passwords in one sitting and then copy/pasting them into a text document, since this is much easier than going back and forth for each application. As an example, I generated app passwords for four different applications to use with Microsoft Outlook, iPad Mail app, and another mail application.
Add Cox email account to Microsoft Outlook
When adding a Cox email account to Microsoft Outlook, follow these directions to set up the new Cox email account with Yahoo’s servers:
- Open Outlook and select the File tab
- Select Add account and type your Cox email address in the text field. Do not select Yahoo account during set-up
- Select Advanced options and the checkbox Let me set up my account manually
- Select IMAP
- Copy and paste or type the app password generated in the previous section, which is a 16-letter code different from the Yahoo account password. You may also be prompted to confirm that login information requires authentication- check this box when prompted
- When prompted, enter the following information and then select Done/Save:
- Incoming mail server: imap.mail.yahoo.com
- Port: 993
- Require SSL authentication: Yes
- Outgoing mail server: smtp.mail.yahoo.com
- Port: 465 or 587 (enter either number, do not enter both)
- Encryption method: SSL/TLS (found in dropdown menu)
- Require authentication: Yes
The Cox email address should now be on Yahoo’s servers and synchronizing with existing folders and emails. I prefer to add a new account instead of trying to edit the old account settings, so I can avoid autocompleting information.
Related links
- Low Vision Accessibility Settings For Windows 10
- Seven Accessibility Features You Didn’t Know Existed In Microsoft Office
Add Cox email account to iPhone or iPad Mail app
I’ve heard some reports that users do not have to set up server settings manually when using the iOS Mail applications, but this wasn’t the case for any of the people I helped. Here is how to add a Cox email account to an iPhone or iPad Mail app (separate from the MacOS app), which can be done with VoiceOver or other assistive features:
- Open the Settings app and scroll to the Mail menu in the sidebar
- Select Add Account, followed by Other email account
- Enter your name, Cox email address, and app generated password, the 16-letter code generated in a previous section. You will need to generate a code specifically for the iOS Mail application that is different from other applications.
- An error may pop up saying that no password was generated. That’s ok, just close that window and enter the advanced configuration settings in the next step
- When prompted, enter the following information:
- Incoming mail server/Host Name: imap.mail.yahoo.com
- Username: Cox email address
- Password: App-generated password
- Outgoing mail server host name: smtp.mail.yahoo.com
- Username: Cox email address
- Password: App-generated password
Server settings should be automatically configured, but if not, go back to the Mail settings menu and select the Cox email address, followed by Account Settings
First, select SMTP and enter the following information:
- Server name: smtp.mail.yahoo.com
- Use SSL: On
- Authentication: Password
- Server port: 587
Next, select Advanced and enter the following information. When finished, select Done to save settings:
- Use SSL: On
- Authentication: Password
- IMAP Path Prefix: /
- Server port: 993
Related links
- How To Make iPad Accessible for Low Vision
- Enabling Temporary Accessibility Settings For iPad
- How To Use VoiceOver With Low Vision
- How I Organize Emails In College With Low Vision
Add Cox email account to Android Email application
When adding a Cox email account to the Android Email/Gmail application, follow these instructions:
- Open the Gmail application and open the Navigation Drawer, which has three lines in the top corner
- Open the Settings option and select Add account
- Select Other and enter the Cox email address when prompted
- For the password, app generated password, the 16-letter code generated in a previous section. You will need to generate a separate password that is different from other email applications
- When prompted for the account type, select IMAP
- For the incoming server, type imap.mail.yahoo.com
- For the outgoing mail server, type smtp.mail.yahoo.com
- Select Next to finish the email setup
Related links
- Low Vision Accessibility Settings For Android Phones
- Make Any Android Smartphone Accessible For $20
- How To Create A Custom Android Home Screen With Microsoft Launcher
Add Cox email account to MacOS Mail app
A family friend asked me to set up their Cox email account on the MacOS email application, which was a more complicated process than I was expecting since the instructions are different than other applications. Here is how we added their Cox email account to the Apple Mac Mail app, not to be confused with the iOS Mail app in another section.
- Open System Preferences followed by Internet Accounts, and select the option to add a new account. Select the option for Add Other Email Account
- Enter your name, Cox email address, and app generated password, the 16-letter code generated in a previous section. You will need to generate a code specifically for the Mac Mail app that is different from the iOS Mail app or other applications
- Deselect the Automatic checkbox to configure server settings manually
- When prompted, enter the following information:
- Incoming mail server/Host Name: imap.mail.yahoo.com
- Port: 993
- Use TLS/SSL: Yes
- Require Authentication: Yes, Password
To edit outgoing mail server settings, select Edit SMTP Server List and when prompted, enter the following information:
- Username: Cox email address
- Password: App-generated password
- Outgoing mail server: smtp.mail.yahoo.com
- Deselect option to automatically manage connection settings, if needed
- Port: 587 or 465 (enter either number, do not enter both)
- Use TLS/SSL: Yes
- Require authentication: Yes, Password
Once all of this is completed, send a test email from another device to confirm everything is working. All emails should be transferred over from the Cox server after a few minutes.
Related links
More resources for transferring Cox email to Yahoo email for visually impaired users
- Yahoo’s support phone number is only for premium users and is not particularly helpful for answering questions about the Cox email transition. However, Yahoo does have an accessibility support email (accessibility@yahooinc.com) that can be contacted, which admittedly isn’t very helpful for this issue but can answer questions about using other Yahoo services with assistive technology
- Another potential option for connecting with accessibility support is the free APH Connect Center hotline, which can provide assistance on locating visual impairment accessibility resources. Visit their website for more information: APH Connect Center
- Want to learn more about internet safety for people with visual impairments? Read Online Safety For Visually Impaired Users: Safer Internet Day
- To read the original article that inspired the creation of this post, check out this link from the Washington Post: How a 92-year-old woman beat the cable company (with some help)
Published June 7, 2024. Updated November 2025