How to manage settings for the Mail app for iPhone and iPad
- aug
- 31
How do I change the settings on your email account? iPhone and iPad make it easy!
Once you've set up Mail on your iPhone or iPad, you don't have to leave it as-is. There are all sorts of ways to customize your accounts and make them your own.
That includes how they're previewed, what swipe actions do, the style of flags displayed, how threading works, your email signature, and more!
- How to get a notification when someone replies to your email
- How to manage email accounts
- How to change preview lines
- How to Show To/Cc labels
- How to change swipe options
- How to change Flag style
- How to toggle Ask Before Deleting
- How to Load Remote Images
- How to organize emails by thread
- How to Collapse Read Messages
- How to move a thread's most recent message to the top
- How to turn complete threads on and off
- How to turn Always Bcc Myself on and off
- How to mark addresses
- How to turn Increase Quote Level on and off
- How to set your signature
How to get a notification when someone replies to your email
- Launch the Settings app from your Home screen.
- Tap on Notifications.
Swipe up until you find Mail.
- Tap on Mail.
- Tap on the switch beside Allow Notifications. This will turn it from gray to green.
Tap the switch beside each option to turn them on or off.
You can choose to adjust and customize your notifications to add sounds, notifications in the notification center, badge app icons, or to have notifications appear on your lock screen.
How to manage email accounts
Before you can make changes to any of your email accounts, you need to know where to look.
- Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
- Scroll down in the Settings menu until you see Accounts & Passwords.
Tap the account you would like to manage. You can now manage and adjust your email account!
How to change preview lines
The number of preview lines lets you choose between more text per message, or squeezing in more messages. Choose the amount that's right for you.
- Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
- Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
Tap Preview and select the number of lines to change the Mail preview display.
How to Show To/Cc labels
If who sent or who was copied on an email isn't vital first-glance information for you, you can hide it and then expand it only when/if you really want to see it. Otherwise you can make sure it's always visible immediately.
- Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
- Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
Tap the switch next to Show To/Cc Labels so that it turns green.
How to change swipe options
Swipe gestures make it super fast to triage your email, especially on the go. Pick the options that best match how you use email.
- Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
- Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
Tap Swipe Options
- Tap Swipe Left or Swipe Right to adjust the slide options.
Tap Flag or Move Message to set the slide direction.
How to change Flag style
Flags let you make important messages stand out. Choose the style that catches your eye but don't disturb it.
- Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
- Tap Flag Style.
Tap on Color or Shape to change your flag style.
How to toggle Ask Before Deleting
Ever delete an email by accidentally tapping in the wrong place? You can force iOS to ask before deleting a message or, if that's too slow, make sure it deletes immediately.
- Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
- Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
Tap the switch next to Ask Before Deleting so that it turns green.
How to Load Remote Images
Remote images are pictures store on the server that make email better looking or more informative, but also take time and bandwidth to download. They can also sometimes contain tracking pixels so newsletters or deal mails know, for example, that you've opened the email.
- Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
- Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
Tap the switch next to Load Remote Images so that it turns green.
How to organize emails by thread
Some people want all their individual emails shown in chronological order. Others want all emails from the same conversation grouped together. Pick the option that works best for you.
- Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
- Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
Tap the switch next to Organize by Thread so that it turns green.
How to Collapse Read Messages
- Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
- Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
Tap the switch next to Collapse Read Messages so that it turns green.
How to move a thread's most recent message to the top
Threads can be convenient but also confusing. Sometimes, in a conversation, you lose track of which message was the most recent. If you want to, though, you can make sure the latest message is always on top.
- Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
- Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
Tap the switch next to Most Recent Message on Top so that it turns green.
How to turn complete threads on and off
To save space, you can choose to only see the latest messages in a thread. If you want to see all of them, all the time, there's an option for that.
- Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
- Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
Tap the switch next to Complete Threads so that it turns green.
How to turn Always Bcc Myself on and off
Want to makes sure you always get sent a copy of your own email? It's not just for POP email any more, you can get a blind copy every time.
- Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
- Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
Tap the switch next to Always Bcc Myself so that it turns green.
How to mark addresses
If you want to make sure you're sending an email from or to people at a specific domain — for example, if I want to make sure I'm sending from my imore.com address to my colleagues at imore.com, I can have iOS mark (i.e. highlight) those addresses. It's way to avoid mistakingly sending from or to the wrong address or people.
- Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
- Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
- Tap Mark Addresses.
- Type the type of address you would like to mark.
Tap return when you're done.
How to turn Increase Quote Level on and off
Email has evolved to include a quote system that tries to distinguish your reply from their reply from the previous reply... and so on. One quote level is the previous message, two the message before that, three — you get the idea. If you need to make it clear who said what, you can adjust the quote level to make it super obvious.
- Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
- Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
- Tap Increase Quote Level
Tap the switch next to Increase Quote Level so that it turns green.
How to set your signature
Want to make sure all your emails finish with your preferred flourish? Add a signature!
- Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
- Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
- Tap Signature.
- Type out your new signature.
Tap Mail in the upper left corner when you're done.
Any Questions?
Is there anything you would like to learn through the Mail app in Settings? Let us know in the comments below!
Updated August 2018: The post is up to date with the latest version of iOS.