I just deleted all data from my account and set an automatic responder stating that, due to security concerns, I no longer use that account. I created my Y! account in 1998, it's a shame it has come to this. There were a lot of memories I had to purge along with my account (even though I had a different main account in the last decade). Shame!

This is a terrible policy. Do other email providers have a similar policy?

Probably not that terrible if they only do it for accounts that were created and never used. Like all the good GitHub usernames that seem to be abandoned.

GitHub usernames and emails are very different things. You don't get password reminders sent to your github profile, but you can get those via email.

BTW, no, most email providers never allow the reuse of close account names.

Microsoft seems to, although I can't find a specific statement from them confirming it: http://windowsitpro.com/blog/recycled-email-addresses-and-ou...

If someone knows how to delete more than 100 emails at a time, let me know. I have more the 10k emails, 80% of which are probably spam!

... And the answer is, scroll to the very bottom, then delete. I was able to delete over 1000 that way.

The other way is to search before:"2016/12/15", and delete all the search results.

They used to automatically put an email address back into circulation if you failed to log in for 6 months.