To back up or download mail contacts from Yahoo is very easy. Just follow below steps you can download a full copy of all contacts from yahoo.
Downloading contacts from Yahoo Mail
Log on Yahoo mail (https://mail.yahoo.com) with your Yahoo account username and password from any web browser, such as Edge for PC, Safari for Mac, or other third-party browsers like Chrome, Firefox, etc.
Once you are logged in, you should be taken to your Yahoo Mail inbox. To access your contacts, click the Contacts icon from the upper section of the right column, you will open the contacts page like this:
In the Contacts section, you’ll see a list of your contacts. Click the All tab, then select all or individual contacts within your Yahoo account. Then click the More menu (ellipsis icon), you will get a drop-down menu list.
Before Yahoo Mail provided different export formats, such as Microsoft Outlook, Netscape/Thunderbird, CSV, vCard Single File and vCard, Zip of .VCF files.
Now we have only the CSV option when exporting contacts from Yahoo Mail. Yahoo have deleted other formats and options from Yahoo Mail’s web interface so we may encounter difficulties when we plan to import these contacts into another email app, contact management app or mobile phones.
Select Export to CSV File, the only export format we can choose now, from the drop-down menu to start the export process. Yahoo Mail will generate a file containing all your selected contacts in CSV format.
Once the export process is complete, you can find the CSV contacts file in the Downloads directory on your PC. You can open and view this file using a compatible application, such as Microsoft Excel. You can import it into your contact management software or email client on your computer, such as the Contacts app for Windows or Mac.
Import CSV contacts to iPhone
Unlike VCF contacts, CSV is not inherently compatible with the iPhone. To import contacts in CSV format from your computer to your iPhone, several methods are available, including using iCloud, iTunes, and leveraging the built-in Contacts app on your Mac if you are within the Apple ecosystem. It’s important to note that iCloud does not directly support the CSV format, necessitating the conversion of CSV to VCF before uploading contacts to iCloud via the web. While iTunes may not be the most user-friendly option, Windows users can utilize the Contacts app on their PCs to facilitate the conversion from CSV to VCF. Similarly, Mac users can perform this conversion directly on their Macs. Here are the general steps to accomplish this on a Mac.
Convert CSV to VCF on Mac
Run Contacts app on Mac, click the File menu from Apple menu bar, select Import from the drop-down menu to locate and import CSV file into the Contacts app. Then select all the contacts, go to the File > Export > Export vCard…, choose a file name and location to save the VCF file on your computer.
Transfer VCF from Mac to iPhone
You can email yourself the VCF contacts file from computer to iPhone, or simply send it to yourself via the AirDrop. On your iPhone, you can directly import the VCF contacts to the Contacts app.
Other than that, sync your Mac’s contacts with iPhone through iCloud.
Update Sep 2023: this post was originally published in Oct 2014. we have noticed many changes of the Yahoo Mail’s interface and options since then, thus we edited it again today, Sep 10, 2023, to keep the instructions up-to-date.