How to manage Mail settings for iPhone and iPad

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Mail app on iPad Pro (2020) with Magic Keyboard
Mail app on iPad Pro (2020) with Magic Keyboard (Image credit: Bryan M. Wolfe/iMore)
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Long gone are the days when you needed your Mac to customize your email the way you liked it. Now you can set up Mail on your iPhone or iPad, with a couple of taps. The best part is, there are all sorts of ways to customize your accounts and make them your own. There are a lot of useful features that you can find if you manage Mail settings for iPhone and iPad.

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

  1. Launch the Settings app from your Home screen.
  2. Tap on Notifications. Scroll up until you find Mail.
  3. Tap on Mail.
  4. Select on the switch beside Allow Notifications. This will turn it from gray to green.

Select Mail under the iPhone Settings app's notifications (Image credit: iMore)
  1. Tap the on the **email address* you wish to adjust.
  2. Tap on Sounds.
  3. Select the sound you'd like to have.

Notifications under Settings app for Mail (Image credit: iMore)

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 manage Mail settings for iPhone and make changes to any of your email accounts, you need to know where to look.

  1. Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
  2. Scroll down in the Settings menu until you see Mail.
  3. Tap on Accounts
  4. Tap on the email account you want to manage.

How to Delete an email account: Go to Settings, scroll down, tap on Mail, tap on Accounts (Image credit: iMore)

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.

  1. Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
  2. Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
  3. Choose Preview and select the number of lines to change the Mail preview display.

Choose the Settings app, tap Mail, and select Preview to make a change (Image credit: iMore)

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.

  1. Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
  2. Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
  3. Tap the switch next to Show To/Cc Labels so that it turns green.

Choose the Settings app, tap Mail, and select Show To/Cc Labels toggle to make a change (Image credit: iMore)

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.

  1. Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
  2. Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
  3. Tap Swipe Options.

Choose the Settings app on your iPhone and tap Mail. In there, select Swipe Options (Image credit: iMore)
  1. Tap Swipe Left or Swipe Right to adjust the slide options.
  2. Tap Flag or Move Message to set the slide direction.

Tap on the swipe options for mail and choose swipe left or swipe right then tap flag (Image credit: iMore)

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.

  1. Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
  2. Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
  3. Tap the switch next to Ask Before Deleting so that it turns green.

Launch the settings app and tap Mail. Choose the Ask Before Deleting toggle (Image credit: iMore)

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.

  1. Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
  2. Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
  3. Tap the switch next to Load Remote Images so that it turns green.

Choose the Settings app, tap Mail, and then toggle Load Remote Images (Image credit: iMore)

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.

  1. Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
  2. Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
  3. Tap the switch next to Organize by Thread so that it turns green.

Tap on the Settings app, tap Mail, then toggle Organize by Thread (Image credit: iMore)

How to Collapse Read Messages

  1. Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
  2. Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
  3. Tap the switch next to Collapse Read Messages so that it turns green.

Tap the Settings app, tap Mail, and toggle collapse Read Messages (Image credit: iMore)

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.

  1. Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
  2. Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
  3. Tap the switch next to Most Recent Message on Top so that it turns green.

tap Settings, Mail, then toggle Most Recent Message on Top (Image credit: iMore)

How to turn complete threads on and off

To save space, you can choose only to see the latest messages in a thread. If you want to see all of them, all the time, there's an option for that.

  1. Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
  2. Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
  3. Tap the switch next to Complete Threads so that it turns green.

Tap Settings app, tap Mail, and toggle Complete Threads (Image credit: iMor)

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 anymore; you can get a blind copy every time.

  1. Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
  2. Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
  3. Tap the switch next to Always Bcc Myself so that it turns green.

Tap settings app, choose mail, scroll down and toggle always BCC mysel (Image credit: iMore)

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 futurenet.com address to my colleagues at futurenet.com, I can have iOS mark (i.e., highlight) those addresses. It's a way to avoid mistakingly sending from or to the wrong address or people.

  1. Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
  2. Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
  3. Tap Mark Addresses.
  4. Type the type of address you would like to mark.

Go into the Settings app, tap Mail, then select Mark Addresses, add the address (Image credit: iMore)

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.

  1. Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
  2. Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
  3. Tap Increase Quote Level
  4. Tap the switch next to Increase Quote Level so that it turns green.

Choose the Settings app, tap Mail, then tap Increase Quote level, then toggle (Image credit: iMore)

How to set your signature

Want to make sure all your emails finish with your preferred flourish? Add a signature!

  1. Launch the Settings app from your Home screen
  2. Tap Mail. You may have to scroll a little to find it.
  3. Tap Signature.
  4. Add your new signature.

Go into the Settings app, choose Mail then signature. Add your signature (Image credit: iMore)

Any Questions?

Is there anything you would like to learn about how to manage Mail settings for iPhone or iPad? Let us know in the comments below!

Updated October 2020 The post is up to date with the latest version of iOS.

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Bryan M Wolfe
Bryan M Wolfe
Staff Writer

Bryan M. Wolfe has written about technology for over a decade on various websites, including TechRadar, AppAdvice, and many more. Before this, he worked in the technology field across different industries, including healthcare and education. He’s currently iMore’s lead on all things Mac and macOS, although he also loves covering iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. Bryan enjoys watching his favorite sports teams, traveling, and driving around his teenage daughter to her latest stage show, audition, or school event in his spare time. He also keeps busy walking his black and white cocker spaniel, Izzy, and trying new coffees and liquid grapes.