The Comprehensive GUIDE for the Comcast to Yahoo Mail Transition

(FOR ANTHEM RANCH RESIDENTS)

Email is heavily used in Anthem Ranch by the HOA and by clubs to share information with residents and club members.  Comcast (aka Xfinity) has announced that they are transitioning their email services to another company (Yahoo).  While you will still be able to continue to use your comcast.net email address if you choose, there will be several "hoops" to jump through that you must be aware of, otherwise you run the risk of losing some or all of your email, and possibly your email address permanently.  NOTE: This will NOT affect other Comcast services such as Cable TV or Internet.

This guide is designed to provide clear, comprehensive answers for everyone affected by the transition of Comcast.net email accounts to the Yahoo Mail platform. It is divided into two distinct parts: Part 1 offers essential information on how to prepare for the transition and alternative options, while Part 2 provides a more detailed technical guide for the steps that must be followed when Comcast notifies you that your time has come to transition.

For a 7-minute video overview, click HERE.

HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE TRANSITION PROCESS

If you think you might be affected, please understand and answer the following questions:

QUESTION 1:

Many residents had their email "set up" by a friend/neighbor/family member.  You may know your email address, but you may not know everything going on "behind the scenes".  Please ensure you are able to positively answer the following question:

Do you use a comcast.net email address:

a) as your primary email address for most/all of your email?  OR

b) that you sometimes use to receive any email that is or might be important to you? OR

c) that you have set up to "forward" all email sent to that address to another email provider ("forwarding")?

(In rare circumstances, you may have more than one comcast email address.  We will not address that situation here.)

If none of the above, you can STOP now, though you should be aware that some of your friends/neighbors/family may be adversely affected.  And be aware that you may receive requests from some of them that they may be choosing to change their email address.

QUESTION 2:

In almost all cases, you can continue to use your comcast.net email address (though, if you are "forwarding," Yahoo will require you to use their Yahoo Plus service at $5/month to continue forwarding) BUT you must follow further instructions carefully.  NOTE: Even though you can continue to use that comcast.net email address, you might be interested in taking this opportunity to "migrate" your email to another service, such as Gmail.

Might you be interested in "migrating" to a new email provider other than Yahoo (e.g. and no longer using a comcast.net email address at all)?

If so, you may want to start this process sooner than later to minimize email loss by ensuring you have plenty of time to notify all senders that you are changing your email address.  If you choose Gmail as your new provider, see Appendix B.  However, the transition to Yahoo will still affect you, so read on.

QUESTION 3:

Comcast/Xfinity will be transitioning their email customers over a long period, between now and the end of 2026.  We do not know when you will be transitioned, other than you will get a notification (via email, possibly text) that will give you 30 days notice.  There are many hackers and spammers who may try to fool you to click on an email (or reply to a text) purportedly from Comcast/Xfinity.  Many people "check their email" on their phone or tablet.  Comcast recommends that you check your email regularly using a computer by browsing to their email service "website" as this will reduce the likelihood that you will be fooled by a hacker/spammer, or that the official notification will go to your spam folder.

Do you know how (and are you able) to check your Comcast email on the website using a computer?  Please confirm that you can do so, e.g. that you know the login name and password and that you can see your email that way.

If you do not remember your password, now is the time to fix that.  Call 1-800-XFINITY for help.  Or you may able to reset it at https://xfinity.com/password

QUESTION 4:

Different people access their email in different ways.  Many people now have multiple ways to access their email.

Do you check your email:

1) By browsing to the Comcast/Xfinity email website?

2) On your iPhone, iPad, and/or Mac?

3) On your desktop or laptop PC, using Outlook (or the now discontinued Windows Mail program)?

4) On your Android phone?

5) Other apps (e.g. Thunderbird)?

It's important that you create a comprehensive list of any and all email "clients" you use as some "techie" changes will likely be required to each one... else you will no longer be able to use it to check your email.

QUESTION 5:

When you receive the notification, you will be asked to approve Yahoo's "terms of service" (TOS).

CAUTION: DO NOT APPROVE THE TOS YET!  Once you approve, you must be ready to proceed with further steps, some of which may require significant technical skill.  If you approve and do not understand or proceed with the remaining steps, you may not be able to access your email until you do.

Have you received your notification, and are you sure it is the official notification?  (If in doubt, please review with a trusted "techie". to ensure the notice was not sent by a hacker or spammer. If you are asked to click on anything in the email, it is probably NOT the official notification.)

(IMPORTANT: If you have previously decided to "migrate" to a different email provider such as Gmail, this will be another option provided.  Comcast does provide an "export" process to assist with this, but we do not yet know the details of how this will be presented.  However we do know that using the export process is irreversible and, if you use it, you will be giving up your comcast.net email address. Once we know more, this process will be documented separately in Appendix A.)

Not sure if you have received a notification?  Go to login.yahoo.com and try to login with your comcast.net email address.  If you get "Sorry, we don't recognize this email," it is not yet your time to transition.  If you are prompted for your password and enter it successfully, you may be asked to immediately approve the Yahoo TOS.  DO NOT DO THAT YET!  Just log out.

If you have not received notification, you are in a waiting game until you do.  When you have received it (OR if you are able to successfully log in to Yahoo with your comcast.net email address and password), please proceed to the next session.

YOU'VE BEEN NOTIFIED.  TIME TO START THE TRANSITION PROCESS

IF YOU ARE HERE, YOU HAVE RECEIVED AN OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION REQUESTING THAT YOU APPROVE THE YAHOO TERMS-OF-SERVICE (TOS)... AND, IF YOU ARE A NON-TECHIE, YOU HAVE LINED UP ANY NECESSARY ASSISTANCE TO HELP YOU THROUGH THESE STEPS

Once you receive the notification, the clock starts ticking.  Your email will continue to work as normal for 30 days.  If, after 30 days, you have not approved the Yahoo TOS, your email will stop working "normally" until you do approve it.  If you wait 120 days without approving the Yahoo TOS, your comcast.net email address will no longer function and any email sent to your address will not be delivered at all.  (NOTE: Until this 120 day deadline, senders will get no indication whether or not you've received their email.  After the 120 days, anyone who sends an email to your no-longer-functioning comcast.net email address will receive a "bounce" message.)

If you are certain that you would like to continue to use your comcast.net email address (i.e. not migrating to Gmail) and you are prepared to proceed with subsequent "techie" steps, complete three steps:

• Approve the Yahoo Terms of Service

• Fix any email clients

• Set up spam filters to ensure club emails and HOA emails go to your inbox and not to spam

These steps are described in detail below:

STEP A: APPROVE YAHOO TERMS OF SERVICE

[Techie note: Some experienced comcast.net user may have set up "filters" -- or a techie friend/relative may have set some up for you.  It's important to note that filters will NOT be moved and they will have to be recreated on Yahoo.  Thus it is important to review any filters PRIOR to accepting the Yahoo TOS at which point you will no longer be able to view them.]

First, you must sign in to login.yahoo.com with your @comcast.net email address and password, and accept the Yahoo Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.  Once you have done this, your email will be transitioned, and Yahoo is your email "provider."  You can no longer access your email via the comcast.net website -- you must visit and login to the yahoo site (using your comcast.net address and password).  IMPORTANTLY, until you take further steps (see below), this will be the ONLY way you can access your email... none of your email "clients" will work!

(Note: At this time, it is not recommended that you enable two-step verification (2SV) for security if it is offered.  If you desire increased security, do that separately later after you have completed the entire transition process, and only then if you understand the impact of requiring "app passwords.)

After you accept the TOS, your messages, folders, and contacts will be "magically" moved to Yahoo Mail, but with some limitations. (1) Attachments larger than 25MB will not be moved and will be placed in a separate folder in your old Xfinity email inbox for you to download; (2) Only up to 4,100 folders and 10,000 contacts will migrate; excess will be consolidated or lost.  (Techie note: Large attachments, such as long videos, will be saved in a special folder in your new Yahoo email account and will be deleted after 30 days.  You should receive email or notification from Yahoo telling you where you can find them.  If any are important, you will need to save them on your computer or in the cloud before Yahoo deletes them.

Note: The "magic" is not instantaneous.  Don't panic if you don't see all of your email right away.  While new emails should appear immediately, older emails may not appear for hours or, for very large mailboxes, even a day or more. [Techie note: The transfer service is provided by ShuttleCloud.]

STEP B: FIXING YOUR EMAIL CLIENTS

For each device -- or "client" -- you use to access your email, you will need to update the settings to "point" to Yahoo.  You should also delete references to your now-defunct Comcast account.  The process for each device is different.  Instructions for the most common devices/clients are below.

NOTE: If in the process of setting up your new Yahoo email, you chose to enable two-step verification for security, you will be required to set up a special "App password" for some email clients.

(>>>>>text for all email clients below from Gemini... needs to be reviewed and cleaned up)

iPhone (Apple Mail App)

Adding Yahoo Mail (Automated Setup)

1. Go to the Settings app on your iPhone.

2. Scroll down and tap Mail.

3. Tap Accounts.

4. Tap Add Account.

5. Select Yahoo.

6. You will be directed to the Yahoo sign-in page. Enter your full Yahoo email address and password.

7. Follow any on-screen prompts from Yahoo (like two-factor authentication) and grant permission for Mail to access your account.

8. Choose which services to sync (Mail, Contacts, Calendar, etc.) and tap Save. The account will now appear in your Mail app.

Deleting the Comcast Account

1. In the same Settings → Mail → Accounts menu, tap on the Comcast account.

2. Tap Delete Account.

3. Confirm the deletion.

Samsung Phone (Native Mail App)

Adding Yahoo Mail (Automated Setup)

1. Open the Email app (or go to Settings → Accounts and backup → Manage accounts → Add account).

2. Select Yahoo Mail from the list of providers.

3. Enter your full Yahoo email address and tap Next.

4. Enter your Yahoo password and follow any sign-in prompts (like two-factor authentication).

5. The app will automatically configure the server settings (IMAP is standard for Yahoo).

6. Review the settings and tap Done or Sign In to complete.

Deleting the Comcast Account

1. Go to Settings → Accounts and backup.

2. Tap Manage accounts.

3. Tap on the Comcast email account you want to remove.

4. Tap Remove account and confirm the action.

Outlook on a PC (Classic Outlook)

Note: If you are using the newer "Outlook (New)" app, the steps are slightly different, usually under View → View settings → Accounts.

Adding Yahoo Mail (Automated Setup)

1. Open Outlook.

2. Go to the File tab (top left).

3. Under Account Information, click + Add Account.

4. Enter your full Yahoo email address.

5. Outlook should detect the Yahoo server settings. You may be redirected to a Yahoo login window in your browser.

6. Crucial Step for Yahoo: If you use two-factor authentication (recommended), you may need to go to your Yahoo security settings online to generate a one-time "App Password" and use that App Password in Outlook instead of your regular password.

7. Complete the sign-in process. Once successful, click Finish.

Deleting the Comcast Account

1. Go to File → Account Settings → Account Settings...

2. In the Email tab, select the Comcast account.

3. Click Remove and confirm the deletion.

Mail on a Mac (Apple Mail App)

Adding Yahoo Mail (Automated Setup)

1. Go to the Apple Menu → System Settings (or System Preferences on older macOS).

2. Click Internet Accounts.

3. Click Add Account or the plus (+) button.

4. Select Yahoo! from the list.

5. Enter your Yahoo email address and password. You will be prompted to log in through the Yahoo web interface.

6. Complete the sign-in and allow your Mac access to the account.

7. Choose which services to sync (Mail, Contacts, etc.) and click Done. The account will automatically appear in the Mail app.

Deleting the Comcast Account

1. In the same System Settings → Internet Accounts window, click on the Comcast account.

2. Click Delete Account (the - minus button) and confirm the action.

STEP C: SPAM AVOIDANCE

Good news... Yahoo holds emails in the spam folder for 30 days before deleting them.  Comcast only held them for 7 days before deleting them.

(>>>>> text below from Gemini... needs to be reviewed and cleaned up)

Based on our discussion, here are the instructions for setting up filters in your new Yahoo Mail account. These steps will help ensure that important messages from your Google Groups, Club Express, and HOA always go directly to your inbox and not to spam.

The key is to create a separate filter for each type of sender using the specific rules we identified.

General Instructions: How to Create a Filter

You will need to use a computer's web browser to create these filters, as this feature is not available in the Yahoo Mail mobile app.

1. Log in to Yahoo Mail.

2. Click the Settings icon (a gear icon) in the top-right corner.

3. Select More Settings from the dropdown menu.

4. In the left-hand menu, click on Filters.

5. Click the Add new filters button.

Once you have completed these steps, you can set up each of the specific filters below.

Filter 1: For All Google Groups

This filter will catch any email sent to any of your Google Groups and send it to your inbox. This works because the emails are always addressed to a googlegroups.com address, which we can use to bypass the spam filter.

Filter Name: Google Groups Set rules:

• Rule 1: Select "To/Cc".

• Condition: Select "contains".

• Value: Enter @googlegroups.com

Choose a folder to move to:

• Select "Move to folder".

• Select "Inbox".

Click Save.

Filter 2: For All Club Express Emails

This filter will catch any email sent by any of the clubs that use the Club Express platform. We can do this by filtering for their specific email sending domain.

Filter Name: Club Express Emails Set rules:

• Rule 1: Select "From".

• Condition: Select "ends with".

• Value: Enter @mail2.clubexpress.com

Choose a folder to move to:

• Select "Move to folder".

• Select "Inbox".

Click Save.

Filter 3: For Your HOA Emails (Constant Contact)

This filter will ensure that all official messages from your HOA that use Constant Contact go directly to your inbox. We do this by targeting the HOA's specific, authenticated domain.

Filter Name: HOA Emails Set rules:

• Rule 1: Select "From".

• Condition: Select "ends with".

• Value: Enter @ccmcnet.com

Choose a folder to move to:

• Select "Move to folder".

• Select "Inbox".

Click Save.

By creating these three filters, you are proactively telling Yahoo Mail that you trust these specific senders, ensuring that their messages are not incorrectly marked as spam.

APPENDIX A: NOTIFICATION RECEIVED, OPTING OUT OF MIGRATION TO YAHOO

(>>>>>text below from Gemini... needs to be reviewed)

The choice to use the server-to-server option for export is fundamentally a choice to opt out of the Yahoo migration and close your @comcast.net email address.

Here is a detailed breakdown of what happens when you use the Xfinity Export Portal (export.xfinity.com) to transfer your data to a new provider:

1. The Action: Data First, Deletion Second

When you select the server-to-server transfer option on the Xfinity Export Portal, the process is designed to prioritize data safety:

• Step 1: Data Transfer: The migration service (ShuttleCloud) connects to your Comcast account and securely copies your emails and contacts to your new provider (e.g., Gmail). This is the priority.

• Step 2: Account Closure: Once the export is confirmed complete (you will receive a notification), the Xfinity system will then initiate the permanent closure of your @comcast.net email address.

2. The Final Consequences

The finality of this option is the most important detail:

Consequence

Detail

Loss of Email Address

The @comcast.net email address is permanently deactivated and closed. It cannot be reactivated or used again.

Bounced Mail

Anyone who sends an email to that address after the closure will receive a Hard Bounce error message, such as "account not found" or "invalid recipient."

Data Deletion

Any data that was not selected for export (or any leftover files) will be permanently deleted from Comcast's servers after the full 120-day window expires. The data is not recoverable once the account is officially closed.

Xfinity ID Separation

Your Xfinity ID (the username and password you use to log into your Xfinity account for billing, streaming, etc.) remains unchanged. You can continue to use your Xfinity ID to access all other Xfinity services. The email closure only affects the mailbox, not your main account login credentials.

APPENDIX B: MIGRATING PROACTIVELY TO GMAIL

(>>>>>text below from Gemini... needs to be reviewed)

To migrate to Gmail, there are two important steps: Transferring any old email ("archive transfer", and ensuring any email sent to your comcast.net gets forwarded for as long as possible ("forwarding").

To fully execute your plan (archive transfer + forwarding) while you are still on the old Comcast system, you must combine the Comcast forwarding feature with either the Xfinity Export Portal or the Gmail Import tool.

Here is a summary of the two best free strategies.  They have different advantages/disadvantages, so you should choose the one best for your situation.

Prerequisite: Enable Third-Party Access (Crucial Step)

Before using any migration tool or the Gmail Import feature, you must ensure that your Comcast account allows external services to access your data.

• Action: Log in to Xfinity Webmail → Click the Settings icon (gear) → Find the Security section → Check the box to enable Third Party Access Security.

Strategy 1: Gmail's Built-in Import Mail & Contacts (The Simple Free Method)

This method uses Google's internal tool to fetch your old emails and includes a free temporary forwarding feature.

What it Does:

• Archive Transfer: Google connects to your Comcast account (using POP3 technology) and copies your historical email archive.

• New Mail Forwarding: The tool automatically sets up a 30-day mail-fetching period. Any new emails arriving at your Comcast address will be pulled into Gmail during this time.

Pros and Cons:

• PRO: It is the easiest process, requires no separate files, and includes 30 days of new mail fetching automatically.

• CON: It is prone to losing your custom folder structure. All imported mail is usually merged into your Gmail inbox and labeled, rather than maintaining the original hierarchy.

Steps:

1. In Gmail: Log in to your Gmail account on a web browser.

2. Go to Settings (gear icon) → See all settings → Accounts and Import tab.

3. Click "Import mail and contacts."

4. Follow the prompts, entering your Comcast email address and password.

5. Select "Import mail" and "Import contacts" and click Start Import.

Strategy 2: The Two-Step Manual Method (Highest Fidelity and Control)

This strategy provides the longest free forwarding period and the most accurate archive transfer.

Part A: Set Up Free Forwarding (New Mail)

This ensures new emails are caught immediately. This forwarding is temporary and will break on your migration day.

1. Access Xfinity Webmail: Log in to your Xfinity email account via a web browser.

2. Click the Settings icon (gear) → select Email Settings.

3. Under the Mail menu, select Auto Forward.

4. Check the box for "Enable email forwarding."

5. Enter your Gmail address.

6. Check the box for "Save a copy of forwarded mails".

Part B: Transfer Archive via Xfinity Export Portal (Old Mail)

This uses the dedicated Xfinity tool for the most reliable data transfer.

1. Go to the Portal: Navigate to the official export site (https://export.xfinity.com/).

2. Authenticate: Log in with your Comcast.net credentials.

3. Choose Transfer: Select the option to transfer data to another provider.

4. Select Gmail: Choose Gmail from the list of providers.

5. Authorize: Log into your Gmail account and grant permission for the service to copy your data.

6. Start Export: The service will copy your entire archive and folder structure directly to Gmail in the background.

This process is generally better at preserving folder structure than the Gmail built-in tool.

APPENDIX C: MISC RELEVANT ITEMS FROM THE WEB

This is a screenshot of the beginning of the notification email someone posted.  I have not found a full notification.