Delete and recover emails in Mail on iPhone

In the Mail app , 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 at the bottom of an 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.
To delete multiple emails at once while viewing a list of emails: Tap Edit, select some emails, then tap Trash.
If you change your mind, shake iPhone immediately to undo.

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

Recover a deleted email

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

If you change your mind, shake iPhone immediately to undo.

Tip: To see deleted emails across all your accounts, add the All Trash mailbox. To add it, tap Edit in the mailboxes list, then select it in the list.

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.)

Go to Settings > Passwords & Accounts.
Tap your email account, tap Mail (below Advanced), then tap Advanced.
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 , then tap Trash Message.

Decide how long to keep deleted emails

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

Go to Settings > Passwords & Accounts.
Tap your email account, tap Mail (below Advanced), then tap Advanced.
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.

Helpful?

iPhone User Guide

Delete and recover emails in Mail on iPhone

Delete emails

Recover a deleted email

Archive instead of delete

Decide how long to keep deleted emails