How to manage email and mailboxes in Mail for iPhone and iPad

How do you manage email and mailboxes in the Mail app for iPhone and iPad?

The Mail app for iPhone and iPad lets you create mailboxes, mark emails, and even create VIP lists for extra-special contacts, but it can get easily confusing when there are so many buttons and shortcuts you can take.

Here are a couple of ways that you can master your mailbox for your iPhone and iPad

• How to mark an email as read or unread on iPhone and iPad
• How to flag an email message on iPhone and iPad
• How to add new mailboxes on iPhone and iPad
• How to move messages to different mailboxes on iPhone and iPad
• How to move emails to suggested emails based on frequency in the Mail app for iPhone and iPad
• How to move emails from the same thread into different mailboxes in the Mail app for iPhone and iPad
• How to add contacts to your VIP list on iPhone and iPad
• How to set custom alert tones for your VIP inbox on iPhone and iPad
• How to filter inboxes in the Mail app for iPhone and iPad
• How to unsubscribe to mailing lists in the Mail app for iPhone and iPad

How to mark an email as read or unread on iPhone and iPad

1. Launch the Mail app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap Edit in the upper right corner.

3. Tap any email messages you'd like to mark as read.

   

4. Tap Mark in the lower left corner.

5. Tap Mark as Read. If the messages you chose were already read, you can instead tap Mark as Unread.

   

How to flag an email message on iPhone and iPad

1. Launch the Mail app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap Edit in the upper right corner of your screen.

3. Tap the message(s) you'd like to flag.

   

4. Tap Mark in the lower left corner of your screen.

5. Tap Flag. If the messages you chose were already flagged, you can instead tap Unflag.

   

Once you have a message (or messages) flagged, a special Flagged mailbox will appear in your Mailboxes list. Tap on it to see a list of all your flagged messages.

How to add new mailboxes on iPhone and iPad

1. Launch the Mail app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap Mailboxes in the upper left corner of your screen.

3. Tap Edit in the upper right corner of your screen.

   

4. Tap New Mailbox in the lower right corner of your screen.
5. Type a name for your mailbox in the Name field.

6. Tap the Mailbox Location field to attach your new folder to an account.

   

7. Tap a main mailbox in which you'd like to locate your new mailbox.
8. Tap Save.

9. Tap Done.

   

How to move messages to different mailboxes on iPhone and iPad

1. Launch the Mail app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap Mailboxes in the upper left corner of the screen.
3. Tap the mailbox that contains the message(s) you'd like to move.

4. Tap Edit.

   

5. Tap the message(s) you'd like to move.
6. Tap Move.

7. Tap the mailbox to which you'd like to move the message(s).

   

To move a message you're already reading on iPhone or iPad:

1. Tap the Mailbox button at the bottom of your screen. It looks like a file folder.

2. Tap the mailbox to which you'd like to move the message.

   

How to move emails to suggested emails based on frequency in the Mail app for iPhone and iPad

As of iOS 10, you can get suggestions in the Mail app for moving an email to a different mailbox based on previous activities you've had with the contacts. For example, if you always move emails from your mom to the "Family" folder, you will see a pop up suggesting the Family folder when you move it.

You'll need to make sure your Mail settings are correct before using mailbox suggestions.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Scroll down and tap Mail.

3. Tap Swipe Options.

   

4. Tap Swipe Left or Swipe Right.

5. Select Move Message.

   

Now, your Mail app is set up to use the move to mailbox suggestion feature.

1. Open the Mail app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Find the email you want to move and swipe left or right (depending on which direction you selected for Move).
3. Tap Move.

4. Tap the suggested mailbox when it pops up or tap Other to select a different mailbox.

   

How to move emails from the same thread into different mailboxes in the Mail app for iPhone and iPad

You can keep email threads organized by moving individual communications into different mailboxes. So, if your co-worker started talking about going out to lunch in an email thread about an upcoming project, you can move somewhere else so it doesn't interfere with your conversation.

1. Launch the Mail app from the Home screen of your iPhone or ipad.
2. Find the email thread you want to organize.
3. Swipe to the left on the email and tap the More... feature.

4. Tap Show Related Messages.

   

5. Tap Edit in the top right corner of the screen.

6. Select the email or emails you want to move or mark.

   

7. Tap Mark in the bottom left corner of the screen to Flag, Mark as Unread, or move the email to Junk.

   

8. Tap Move in the bottom left corner of the screen to move the email to a different mailbox.

9. Tap Trash in the bottom right corner to trash the email.

   

How to add contacts to your VIP list on iPhone and iPad

How to add the first contact to your VIP list on iPhone and iPad

1. Launch the Mail app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap Mailboxes in the upper left corner of your screen.

3. Tap the VIP inbox directly underneath your regular inbox.

   

4. Tap Add VIP.

5. Tap on the name of the contact you'd like to add to VIP. If a contact is grayed out, it means you're missing their email address and can't add them until you enter it.

   

After you tap on their name they'll be automatically added to your VIP inbox.

How to add more contacts to your VIP list on iPhone and iPad

1. Launch the Mail app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap Mailboxes in the upper left corner of your screen.

3. Tap the ⓘ on the right end of the VIP inbox row.

   

4. Tap Add VIP.

5. Tap on the name of the contact you'd like to add to VIP. If a contact is grayed out, it means you're missing their email address and can't add them until you enter it.

   

After you tap on their name they'll be automatically added to your VIP inbox.

How to set custom notifications for your VIP inbox on iPhone and iPad

1. Launch the Mail app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap Mailboxes in the upper left corner of your screen.

3. Tap the ⓘ on the right end of the VIP inbox row.

   

4. Tap VIP Alerts.

5. Turn notification settings on or off as you see fit.

   

How to filter inboxes in the Mail app for iPhone and iPad

As of iOS 10, Apple added the ability to filter your inboxes by Unread, Flagged, addressed directly to you, or CC'd to you. You can also filter by only emails that have attachments or only emails from your VIP list. To help narrow it down even further, you can select which inboxes you want to filter by.

1. Launch the Mail app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap an inbox (or tap All Inboxes).

3. Tap the Filter button in the bottom left corner of the screen. It looks like a circle with three lines inside of it.

   

4. Tap Filtered By in the bottom center of the screen.
5. Select the category you want to filter your inbox by.

6. Tap Done in the upper right corner of the screen.

   

How to unsubscribe to mailing lists in the Mail app for iPhone and iPad

You can unsubscribe to mailing lists that you, for some inexplicable reason, were signed up for. Instead of going through the rigamarole of tapping through a half-dozen web pages asking why you are leaving, you can unsubscribe in literally two taps.

1. Open the Mail app on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Select an email from a mailing list that you don't want to receive anymore.
3. Tap Unsubscribe at the top of the email.
4. Tap Unsubscribe when prompted to confirm.

Questions?

Let us know in the comments.