Turn your Yahoo Mail Into a Document Storage Lockbox!

Yahoo! Mail has long been my email provider of choice.  However, recently, I've been using it for more than its intended purpose of email.  With Yahoo! now offering unlimited storage space, it has opened up a wide range of possibilities when it comes to uses.  For example, I've begun to use it to archive all of my important documents, much like a filing cabinet.  Having a back up document online gives me a great comfort that I'll always have what I need no matter what happens to my original document.

To make this work, one needs several things:

• A Yahoo! email account -Their free, but since I use Yahoo! email at work and for my own business, I've upgraded to Mail Plus to eliminate the ads that appear as taglines at the bottom of individual emails on the free account.
• An email folder labeled "Docs" - I prefer tags, as folders are pretty one-dimensional, but, alas, folders are what we're given with which to work.  On the left sidebar, click on the "add" link beside "My Folders" and create the folder. Label it "Docs"
• A Yahoo! AddressGuard disposable address - One of the slickest things Yahoo has provided is the disposable address. Designed to thwart web sites that ask you for an email address and then flood it with Bacn, we exploit it to serve a different purpose.  It takes the form of a base name (it never changes) and a keyword (an extra word of your choosing) separated by a hyphen.  The result looks like this:  basename-keyword@yahoo.com (Don't try clicking on the link to the left, your email ain't going anywhere!).  The concept is simple: Create a disposable address to register for things online.  When the spam (or Bacn) begins to flood your email inbox, you simply kill the disposable address and the spam stops.  Your original Yahoo! email address is protected and still available to use for personal emailing.  You then create another disposable address and begin the process all over. Sweet, huh? 
  For our purpose, in the upper right-hand corner of the email screen, click on "Options" and choose "Mail Options" on the sub-menu that opens up.  In the left sidebar, click on "Spam".  Scroll down to "Disposable Addresses" and click on "Set up a Disposable Address".  Follow the instructions to create a disposable address by choosing a base name. Choose any name you'd like.  On the following screen, choose "Docs" as your keyword.  On the next screen, set the drop-down option to send the email to the "Docs" folder.  Finally, click on "Set up AddressGuard" button in the bottom left corner of the screen and you're done!
• A filter called "Docs" - Navigate back to the options page and choose "filter" in the sidebar.  Following the instructions, create a filter that looks for incoming email addressed to your newly created disposable address and directs it into your "Docs" folder.
• A scanner - You're on your own on that one!

Now to work the system, here's what you do:

1. Scan a document into your computer.
2. Using any email program or email website (You are using Yahoo!, aren't you?), address an email to your new Docs email address.
3. Attach your scanned document and send it on it's way.
4. Done!

The filter will scan the incoming email, note that it's addressed to your "Docs" disposable address and route it to your Docs folder.

Since beginning this, I've been archiving birth certificates, warranties, copies of insurance cards, tax documents, reference documents from work, financial documents and contracts, etc.  It's quite calming to know that should my filing cabinet be lost in a fire, my most prized documents are safely online on redundant servers until I need them.

Since this was successful, I now have dedicated disposable addresses, folders and filters set up for receipts of major purchases.  What else can you do with your Yahoo! Mail?

Tomorrow - Instructions for Gmail.

 

Comments

[Jennifer]

For all online backup and storage related info, I recommend this website:

http://www.BackupReview.info

[Bert]

Jennifer-- Yes, there are online storage sites. However, although most offer free storage for a nominal amount of storage space, most charge a subscription for their service. I've yet to find one that offers unlimited storage space for free. Plus, in the time it takes to register at one of these sites, I can do the prep work I described in the post above. One also has the problem that many of the new sites that go up, like most new businesses, won't be around in a few years. Yahoo! Mail and Gmail have passed the test of time and will be around for a long time.

[Shanmuga]

Nice trick, unfortunately the disposable address feature requires Yahoo Mail Plus! which costs USD 19.99 per year.

[Jason Delph]

Very good article. You do not need the disposable email address or Yahoo PLUS to do this. You can create a filter to do the same thing and sort between different folders by keywords.

1. create a filter
2. from header is your email address
3. to header is your email address
4. Subject “contains” the keyword you wish to use.
5. Move the message to your folder you created.

You can create different keywords in the subject to file different documents to different folders. Just remember to add that key word to the email you are sending.

[Bert]

Jason -- If you're like me, I tend to create keywords on the fly and having the AddressGuard address is a good way for me to keep from duplicating them, which is what I tend to do unless i have an underlying structure.

[CF]

What security concerns are there with this compared to something like Amazon's storage service (which I literally just singed up for 3 days ago)? Thanks.

[Adolfo]

Hey I did it it works great and I don't have yahoo mail plus account

[Adolfo]

heu I did it, it works great and I don't have yahoo mail plus account

[Mr Thermister]

Word of caution: about 6 months ago... Yahoo deleted my entire Inbox (a loss of about 1000 emails) without warning!!!! Even after repeated attempts at contacting tech support (to no avail) they could not resurrect it. So...the wise old IT sage says... "A back-up is 2." I've come not to trust Yahoo with important emails (or in this case documents). Now granted, none of my folders (or their contents) were deleted, but...if they can delete the inbox then they can delete anything!

[Bert]

Yep, My Grandmother believed it, NASA believes in it, aircraft manufacturers believe in it. What is it? Redundancy. In terms that we all understand, it's having a back up. I keep several Yahoo and Gmail accounts for this purpose and routinely, using filters, forward copies of my important emails to these accounts as back up copies. It's not likely that Yahoo will delete or lose my information -- but not impossible. I wonder what the odds are that both Yahoo AND Google will lose a total of four accounts, two premiums and two free, at the same time? Overkill? Yep! Admitted! However, with a minimal amount of set up time and no maintenance there after, I think I'm good to go. :)