Flag and filter emails on iPad
In the Mail app , you can flag and filter your emails.
Flag an email
You can flag an email to make it easier to find later. An email you flag remains in your Inbox, but also appears in the Flagged mailbox. To see the Flagged mailbox, tap Mailboxes at the top left, tap Edit, then select Flagged.
Open the email, tap
, then tap Flag.
To choose a color for the flag, tap a colored dot.
To change or remove a flag, open the email, tap
, then tap another color, or tap
.

Flags you add to an email appear on that email in Mail on all your Apple devices where you’re signed in with the same Apple ID.
Flag emails from your VIPs
Add important people to your VIP list, so their emails appear with a VIP flag and in the VIP mailbox.
While viewing an email, tap the name or email address of a person in the email.
Tap Add to VIP.
Get notified of replies to an email or thread
You can create mail notifications when reading or writing an email.
When reading an email: Tap
, then tap Notify Me.
When writing an email: Tap the Subject field, tap
in the Subject field, then tap Notify Me.
You can create mail notifications that let you know when you receive emails in favorite mailboxes or from your VIPs. To change how notifications appear, go to Settings > Notifications > Mail, then turn on Allow Notifications.
Ask Siri. Say something like: “Any new mail from Nanditha today?” Learn how to ask Siri.
Mute email notifications
To reduce interruptions from busy email threads, you can mute notifications of the messages in the conversations.
Open an email in the conversation.
Tap
, then tap Mute.
To specify what you want done with emails you muted, go to Settings > Mail > Muted Thread Action, then select an option.
Block email from specified senders
To block a sender, tap their email address and select “Block this Contact”.
Manage junk mail
To move an email to the Junk folder, open it, tap , then tap Move to Junk.
Tip: If you move an email accidentally, immediately swipe left with three fingers to undo.
Filter emails
You can use filters to temporarily show only certain messages—the ones that meet all the criteria you select in the filter list. For example, if you select “Unread and “Only Mail with Attachments,” you see only unread emails that have attachments.
Tap
in the bottom-left corner of a mailbox list.
Note: When reading an email on iPad in Portrait orientation, tap
to display the email list with
at the bottom.
Tap “Filtered by.”
Select or turn on the criteria for emails you want to view.
Tap
in the bottom-left corner to hide emails that don’t match the current filters. Tap again to turn the filter off.
To turn off an active filter, deselect it or turn it off. To turn off all filters, tap the Filter button.