What happened to aol email addresses

The nostalgia!

AOL (America Online) was a popular internet service provider (ISP) in the 1990s and early 2000s. As part of its service, AOL provided email addresses to its subscribers, which were known as "@aol.com" addresses. However, over the years, AOL's popularity declined, and the company underwent significant changes.

In 2015, AOL was acquired by Verizon Communications, and in 2017, Verizon merged AOL with its own digital advertising business to form Oath Inc. As a result, AOL's email service was gradually phased out.

Here's what happened to AOL email addresses:

  1. AOL email service shutdown: In 2017, AOL announced that it would be shutting down its email service, effective July 30, 2017. This meant that users could no longer access their AOL email accounts or send/receive emails using their @aol.com addresses.
  2. Migration to Yahoo Mail: As part of the AOL-Yahoo merger, AOL email accounts were migrated to Yahoo Mail. This allowed users to access their AOL email accounts using their Yahoo Mail login credentials. However, this migration was not seamless, and many users reported issues with their email accounts.
  3. Yahoo Mail shutdown: In 2021, Verizon announced that it would be shutting down Yahoo Mail, effective April 30, 2021. This meant that AOL email accounts, which were migrated to Yahoo Mail, were also affected.
  4. Legacy AOL email addresses: Although AOL email service is no longer available, legacy AOL email addresses still exist. However, these addresses are no longer active, and users cannot access their accounts or send/receive emails using these addresses.

If you have an AOL email address, you may still be able to access your account using a third-party email client or service, such as Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird. However, these services may not be compatible with AOL's legacy email infrastructure, and you may encounter issues with sending or receiving emails.

It's worth noting that AOL's legacy email addresses are still listed in the Domain Name System (DNS) and can still be used for domain name registration purposes. However, these addresses are no longer actively managed or supported by AOL or its parent companies.