Deleting emails on an iPhone or iPad in Apple’s Mail app
How to delete an email while viewing it
- Open the Mail app, and select the email you want to read.
- Tap the trash icon at the bottom of the toolbar.
How to delete several emails at once
- In your inbox, press Edit in the upper-right corner.
- Select the emails you want to delete.
- Tap the trash can in the lower-right corner.
How to delete an email using 3D Touch
Note: This method will only work if you have an iPhone 6S or later.
- In your inbox, press down on the email you want to delete.
- While you are in peek mode, *swipe left until the email disappears.
* If your account’s default settings allow you to archive messages when swiping left, then swiping right will allow you to trash your email. You can change this by going to Settings > Mail > Swipe Options.
How to recover emails on an iPhone or iPad in Apple’s mail app
If you delete an email accidentally, there are a few ways you can track it down and put it back in your inbox.
How to recover several emails from the trash
- While in your inbox, tap the back button, with the name of the account you are in, to see all your mailboxes.
- Scroll down to the email account you want to recover your emails from, and tap Trash.
- Tap Edit in the upper-right corner.
- Select the emails you want to recover, and tap Move at the bottom.
- Tap Inbox to move the email back to your inbox.
How to recover an email while viewing it
- While in your inbox, tap the back button, with the name of the account you are in, to go back to all your mailboxes.
- Scroll down to the email account you want to recover your emails from, and tap Trash.
- Select the email you want to recover.
- While in the email, tap the Folder icon in the lower-left corner, beside the flag.
- Tap Inbox to move the email back to your inbox.
How to recover emails by shaking your phone
Shaking your device will allow you to recover an email, but it has to be done immediately after you delete the email in question. That said, it’s a great method if you deleted an email by mistake. It will also save you time because you won’t have to exit your inbox and search the trash for the email in question.
- After you delete an email, perform a shake to undo.
- After you shake your device, select Undo in the resulting pop-up window.
