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iPhone User Guide

Delete and recover emails in Mail on iPhone

In the Mail app 👁 Image
, delete emails you no longer need.

Delete emails

There are multiple ways to delete emails. Do any of the following:

  • While viewing an email: Tap 👁 the Delete button
    at the bottom of the email.

  • While viewing the email list: Swipe an email left, then choose Trash from the menu.

    To delete the email in a single gesture, swipe it all the way to the left.

  • Delete multiple emails at once: While viewing a list of emails, tap Edit, select the emails you want to delete, then tap Trash.

    To select multiple emails quickly, swipe down through the checkboxes.

To turn the confirmation of deletion on or off, go to Settings 👁 Image
 > Mail, then turn on or off Ask Before Deleting.

If you change your mind, immediately swipe left with three fingers to undo.

Recover a deleted email

  1. Go to the account’s Trash mailbox, then open the email.

  2. Tap 👁 the More Actions button
    ,     then move the message to another mailbox.

If you change your mind, immediately swipe left with three fingers to undo.

Tip: To see deleted emails across all your accounts, tap Mailboxes at the top left, tap Edit at the top of the list, then select the All Trash mailbox.

Archive instead of delete

Instead of deleting emails, you can archive them in the Archive mailbox. (You can still delete emails, even if you set up an Archive mailbox.)

  1. Go to Settings 👁 Image
     > Passwords & Accounts.

  2. Tap your email account, tap Mail (below Advanced), then tap Advanced.

  3. In the Advanced settings, change the destination mailbox for discarded emails to Archive Mailbox.

When this option is turned on, to delete an email instead of archiving it, touch and hold 👁 the Archive button
, then tap Trash Message.

Decide how long to keep deleted emails

You can set how long deleted emails stay in the Trash mailbox.

  1. Go to Settings 👁 Image
     > Passwords & Accounts.

  2. Tap your email account, tap Mail (below Advanced), then tap Advanced.

  3. In the Advanced settings, tap Remove, then select a time interval.

Note: Some email services might override your selection; for example, iCloud doesn’t keep deleted emails longer than 30 days, even if you select Never.

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