Yahoo made some big changes to its email interface last week, and it might throw you off a bit. Not only is there more customization options to the look and feel of your inbox, but several of the Mail Plus features are now available to everyone for free. One of the more notable of which is 1 TB of free storage.

Yahoo Mail Improvements

According to Jeffery Bonforte, SVP of Communication Products at Yahoo, the changes were made to celebrate the 16th birthday of the email service. From the post on the company’s recently acquired Tumblr blog:

Since it’s not a birthday without party favors, we’re making many features previously reserved for premium Mail Plus customers free. Disposable email addresses, enhanced filters and automatic message forwarding are now available for everyone. And if that wasn’t enough, we’re giving you a monstrous amount of storage, 1TB (that’s 1,000 GBs), so you have ample space for all your emails and attachments. It sure beats one of those annoying noisemakers. Current Mail Plus customers can continue to use Mail Plus and can learn more here.

It’s also interesting to note that if you’re a current Yahoo Mail Plus subscriber you’ll continue to get an ad-free email for $19.99 / year. But for new subscribers, if you want its newly renamed “Yahoo Ad Free Mail” it will set you back $49.99 / year.

The biggest change to Yahoo Mail is the new interface and lack of specific features that were available previously. Also, several users are reporting that it’s just plain buggy. If you take a look at the Yahoo Mail User Voice Forums, you’ll find it full of people who are complaining about the redesign and buggy features.

If you’re in the same boat, let’s take a look at how to get your old email back…and it’s surprisingly easy.

Change Yahoo Mail to Basic

It’s easy to switch your mail back to the interface you’re used to. Just click the gear icon located at the upper right corner by your name and select Settings.

Then in the Settings screen, select Viewing email, then tick Basic under Mail version.

While you’re in Settings, I recommend turning on HTTPS for improved security. Gmail and Outlook.com already have had this feature for what seems like forever, but even if you use your Yahoo account to sign up for newsletters, it’s always nice to have extra security.

Hit the Save button and your Yahoo mail will switch back the interface you know and are comfortable with. While there are more features in the new full-featured version, you may not want or need them.

If you want to switch it back to the new full-featured version, just click the link “Switch to the newest Yahoo! Mail” located in the upper right corner. This will allow you to ease yourself into the new interface, and still use your Yahoo email productively while the new mail bugs get fixed.

Here’s a look at the company’s promotional video for the new mail service:

If you still use Yahoo, what are your thoughts on the new Yahoo Mail redesign? Leave a comment and let us know!