In the current study, the essential oil (EO) extraction from aerial parts of yarrow through ohmic-assisted hydro-distillation (OAHD) technique was optimized. The operational parameters were voltage gradient (5–15 V/cm), salt concentration (0.5–1.5 % (w/v)), and extraction time (30–120 min). This optimization was carried out to maximize the extraction yield (EY), total phenolic content (TPC) and to minimize energy consumption (EC) compared to the hydro-distillation (HD) method. To evaluate the antimicrobial properties the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration was determined using the Micro-broth dilution method. The results indicated that the effect of operational parameters of voltage gradient and extraction time on EY, EC, and TPC was significant (p < 0.05). On the other hand, the effect of the salt concentration on TPC was not significant (p > 0.05). Optimized OAHD conditions were voltage gradient of 12.97 V/cm, extraction time of 86.5 min and salt concentration of 0.7 % w/v. The findings revealed that the extraction efficiency of OAHD (0.2231 ± 0.0021%) was significantly (p˂0.05) higher than the HD method (0.1726 ± 0.0034%). Compared to the HD, the OAHD method resulted in a shorter total extraction time (86.5 ± 0.2 min), lower EC (0.39 ± 0.07 kWh/g) and higher TPC (92.5 ± 3.6 mg GAE/g EO). Yarrow essential oil (YEO) from the OAHD method had better antimicrobial and antioxidant properties than the HD. In addition, more damage was observed for the structure of glands containing EO in the OAHD method.