What the real process looks like
Yahoo's own help page describes one way to get your notes: in Yahoo Mail you go to the download manager, click Download under "Calendar and Notepad", confirm the email address and click OK (Yahoo Notepad to be discontinued). You start it yourself, after signing in to Yahoo Mail the usual way. Nothing in it asks you to reply with your password, pay, or install anything.
Signs from Yahoo's own help pages
- "We never ask for personal info, such as credit cards or passwords, in emails" (Identify legitimate Yahoo websites, requests, and communications).
- In Yahoo Mail on the web, "emails from us include a Yahoo icon next to the sender name. If you don't see it, then the email isn't from Yahoo." In other mail apps the icon may not show, so check the sender's address by hovering over the name.
- On a Yahoo website, "the URL contains yahoo.com". Our own advice on top of that: look at the part before the first slash, which should end in yahoo.com, so that an address such as yahoo.com.example.net does not fool you.
- Yahoo warns against messages that rush you, such as "Urgent action needed on your account!" (Protect yourself from phishing).
What to do with a suspicious email
- Do not click its links or reply. Yahoo's advice: "don't respond or click on links within the message. Simply report it as Spam or delete it" (Protect yourself from phishing).
- Go to Yahoo Mail yourself, by typing mail.yahoo.com, and ask for the download there.
- If you already gave your password, Yahoo says to change your Yahoo account password, update your account information, and contact your bank if you shared financial details (Identify legitimate Yahoo websites, requests, and communications).
Sites and tools that offer to save your notes
Be careful with any site that asks you to sign in with your Yahoo account to "export Notepad": Yahoo's own route is the download, and it does not need anyone else to sign in for you. Lastleaf works only on the file you already downloaded. It never asks for your Yahoo password, it is free, there is nothing to install, and the file is opened by the page on your own device without being uploaded.
Open your Notepad file
Got the file from Yahoo's email? Open it in your browser, read every note it holds with its notebook and dates, and save them all as one text file. Built for the export Yahoo describes and tested on sample files. Free, and nothing is uploaded.
Questions
Is the Yahoo Notepad shutdown real?
Yes. Yahoo's help page says Notepad will be completely retired by January 15, 2027. What can be fake is an email about it that asks for your password, a payment or a download.
Does Yahoo ask for my password to save my notes?
No. Yahoo says it never asks for passwords in emails. You ask for the Notepad download yourself, inside Yahoo Mail.
Is Lastleaf part of Yahoo?
No. Lastleaf is an independent tool by Peak Apps Studio and is not affiliated with Yahoo. It never asks for your Yahoo password.
Sources: Yahoo Help: Yahoo Notepad to be discontinued; Yahoo Help: Identify legitimate Yahoo websites, requests, and communications; Yahoo Help: Protect yourself from phishing. Last checked: October 27, 2026. Lastleaf is an independent tool by Peak Apps Studio and is not affiliated with Yahoo, Apple, Google, Microsoft or Evernote.