How to Delete a Cox Email Address

Last updated: July 6, 2026 · Verified against the current process

Quick answer Cox no longer offers new email accounts, so a cox.net address is always a legacy mailbox tied to an active Cox account. Back it up over IMAP first. To remove a secondary address, sign in to your Cox account, open user management, and delete that user. The primary mailbox is removed when you close the Cox account — cancelling internet deactivates the email. Migrate any account that uses the address before it goes.

Cox is a special case among ISP email providers: it stopped issuing new cox.net addresses years ago. If you have one, it's a legacy account, and the practical question is usually less "how do I delete this" and more "how do I get my old mail out before it disappears." This guide covers both — exporting cleanly, and removing or letting go of the address.

Why cox.net is a legacy account

Cox discontinued new email accounts several years ago. Customers who already had a cox.net mailbox have generally been allowed to keep using it, but the service is frozen: no new addresses, and the mailbox depends on you keeping an active Cox account. Because there's no way to create a fresh one, your cox.net address is effectively irreplaceable — which is all the more reason to export the contents before you remove it.

Export your Cox mail first

  1. Add the account to a desktop client over IMAP

    In Thunderbird, Apple Mail, or Outlook, add a new IMAP account using Cox's published mail-server settings (search Cox's help for "email server settings" for the current hostnames and ports). Sign in with your full cox.net address and password.

  2. Let every folder download

    Wait for Inbox, Sent, and any custom folders to sync completely. Copy anything important into a local "On My Computer" folder so it survives after the server mailbox is gone.

  3. Export contacts

    In Cox webmail, open the address book and use its export option to save contacts as a CSV or vCard file you can import into your new provider.

Move accounts off the address

A cox.net address that's been in use for years is probably attached to banks, bills, and other logins. Before removing it, change the login or recovery email on every important service — search the mailbox for "verify", "statement", and "welcome" to find them. This is critical for a legacy address you can never re-create: once it's gone, any password-reset email sent to it bounces with no recovery path.

Pick a portable replacement This is exactly the trap ISP email sets — you leave the provider and lose the address. Move to independent webmail and use email aliases so you're never locked to a company again.

Delete or deactivate the address

You can't get a cox.net address back Because Cox issues no new email accounts, deleting or deactivating your cox.net mailbox is final — you will not be able to recreate it. Finish every backup and migration above before continuing.
  1. Sign in to your Cox account

    Go to cox.com and sign in with the primary account holder's credentials, which can manage the email addresses on the account.

  2. Open profile or user management

    Find My Profile or the Users area that lists the secondary users and email addresses on your account. Cox reshapes this dashboard over time, so look for the section listing everyone's cox.net addresses.

  3. Remove the secondary address

    Select the secondary user or email you want gone and choose the option to delete or remove it. The mailbox is deactivated and its contents deleted.

  4. For the primary mailbox, contact Cox

    The primary account email usually can't be removed on its own while the account is open. If you want it deactivated without closing the whole account, contact Cox support and ask them to deactivate the email specifically.

If you're cancelling Cox service

Because cox.net email depends on an active Cox account, cancelling your internet generally means the associated mailbox is deactivated. There's no equivalent of a permanent "keep your email for free" plan to rely on here, so treat the cancellation date as the deadline for your export and account migration. When you call Cox to cancel, ask directly what will happen to the email and whether any grace period applies to your account — get the answer before the disconnection date, not after.

Frequently asked questions

Does Cox still offer email addresses?

No. Cox stopped offering new email accounts to customers several years ago. Existing cox.net mailboxes generally continue to work for people who already had them and keep active Cox service, but no new addresses are created.

What happens to my cox.net email if I cancel Cox service?

Cox email is tied to an active Cox account. When you cancel Cox internet, the associated cox.net mailbox is generally scheduled for deactivation, so export everything and migrate any accounts that use the address before service ends.

How do I delete a cox.net email address?

Sign in to your Cox account, open the profile or users area where secondary email addresses are listed, and remove the address. If it's the primary account email or the option isn't available, contact Cox to have the mailbox deactivated.

How do I back up cox.net email before it's deleted?

Connect the mailbox to a desktop client such as Thunderbird using Cox's IMAP settings and let every folder download to your computer while your Cox account is still active. Also export your contacts from webmail.

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