Can't Delete Email from iPad or iPhone?

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82 comments

  • Heidi Kovack

    I get stuck after Advanced Settings. I don't have the option "Mailbox Behaviors". My options are:
    -Use SSL (it is on)
    -move discarded messages into: deleted mailbox archive mailbox ( deleted mail boxes checked on mine )
    -S/MIME ( this is not checked on mine )

    Any ideas where to go from here?

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  • Bacchus936

    I temporarily lost my WiFi connection and found that I could delete emails that had refused to move to trash. I have since got rid of stubborn emails by the simple expedient of taking my Ipad with me when I go out and once out of range of the WiFi connection delete them.

     

    MW.

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  • Ben Greiner

    Hi Jackie,

    Try accessing your email online and see if you can delete the message there. Gray folders are also something you probably want to delete.

    If you have multiple folders with similar names (sent-mail and SentMail) then...

    1. Confirm online which are the real folders (you will NOT be able to delete the "real" folders).
    2. Delete the extra folders. 
    3. Following the instructions one last time to ensure you've "mapped" (or matched) the correct folders on your iOS device with the correct folders on the server.

    Good luck!

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  • Ben Greiner

    You're welcome, Cathrine!

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  • Betty

    May 9, 2016...... iPhone SE Thank God for this...I had been on with  Apple for hours.....Came here and fixed it right away....Thank you so much for sharing the solution....I was pulling my hair out.....  had me back up phone and restore...it was a horror story....They will not be getting a good survey...

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  • Bob

    I have an email I cannot delete on my iPhone 5s that is udated.  I've read thru this entire post and have tried everything you have suggested, but to no avail.  I'm sure I'm messing up somewhere, but cannot figure it out.  Help!

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  • JMN

    Hi Ben - thanks very much for the reply. I am using Exchange. Any ideas on how to get rid of these messages?

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  • mad.salerno

    Great job guys. I spent hours with my SP with to no avail. Until I bumped on your site!

    Thank you!

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  • Jackie

    Hi there,

    This didn't work for me.  I have 2 messages that will not delete.  When I go into Drafts Mailbox and when I look for the Sent Mailbox is it greyed out unless I go down into my other folders where I see sent-mail and SentMail and I have tried choosing those and finish the instructions, power down but there are 2 messages that will still not delete.  I have tried this a few times.  Thanks, 

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  • Ben Greiner

    JMN, if "mark as read" (then delete) doesn't work, then contact your Exchange Host or IT Support provider. There's no reason why this should be a problem.

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  • Joan Edlis

    Hi Ben, I have the same question as Deb Brunelle from July 2016, to which you responded in September, which I did not understand how to fix the problem Deb & I share - specifically, how to reduce the Gmail emails on my iPhone 5 and retain all of them on the Gmail server (iPhone 5s, 10.2.1, IMAP, Mail linked to Gmail, avoiding Gmail App which I find clumsy). I had been very careful not to tap on some of my folders (particularly 'All' and 'Sent') but accidents happen and suddenly my iPhone downloaded hundreds of messages, gobbling up tons of storage.

    My 'Mail Behaviors' are already set up as per the top of this page. Your reply to Deb of...

    The best way to keep email on a server and limit the number of messages on an iPhone is to use IMAP or Exchange accounts. POP accounts are not good for this.

    ...did not really say how to reduce emails on iPhone (or if it did, I didn't grasp it); the link points to a discussion of the difference between POP and IMAP.

    Have I missed something? I thought I might add a new folder on laptop, say, Anti-Sent, relabel all Sent messages as Anti-Sent, empty the Sent folder, sync the iPhone and then move all Anti-Sent back into the original Sent folder but I can only label 100 messages at a time (2400 Sent, 4800 All). Must I really do this manually or is there another workaround?

    Am so glad to have found this site.

     

     

     

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  • Jackie

    Update - so I was actually able to get rid of 1 of the messages - what I hadn't done is follow the instructions for both my ipad and iPhone - once I did that it worked.  What is really strange is that I have a second message that it will not work for? I still get the same message "Unable to Move Message....??

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  • Joe Chavalia

    Ok, so I get to this point       In the new window, select the "Sent Mailbox" folder. From the "On the Server" listing in the lower portion of the window, select the "Sent" folder. You should see a check mark next to this folder.    And I do NOT get a check mark next to "Sent".  Now what do I do????

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  • Jackie

    Hi Ben,

    Thanks so much for all of your help. I went on-line and did some clean up and things seem to be working great now.

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  • Ben Greiner

    Hi Joe, so you can see the folder you want to sync, but it's not selectable? 

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  • Leo-Aureo Medalla

    Hey Ben,

    Thanks a lot! Keep up the good work!!

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  • Ben Greiner

    Hi @Lyndseyskidmore,

    "Greyed out" might be normal. What are you trying to select that is not selectable?

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  • Ben Greiner

    @kimzey, I'm guessing your email account may not be IMAP ... maybe it's POP? Who is your email provider?

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  • La Casa del Gat

    Same problems as Heidi for me on my ipad2, no 'Mailbox behaviors' in the advanced settings. And many messages i can't delete in my hotmail mailbox on the ipad (while these messages are not visible anymore in my mailbox on pc?) no solution?

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  • Joe Chavalia

    Yes that is the issue, it's there, but I can't select it.  I can get that cool little check mark on just about everything EXCEPT that folder.  I do truly hate technology :)

     

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  • Linda Pesonen

    This helped a lot, but I also needed to change the check mark in the section titled "move discarded messages into:" and the check was on archive mailbox, so I switched it to deleted mailbox. Now, my swipe allows the deletion of the email instead of the archive. the "move discarded messages into" section is right below the "mailbox behaviors" section. FYI. Thanks!!

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  • Roseanna Belle Arroyo

    Hi Ben, I followed all instructions but I don't have the option to save to server. Included the screen grab for you :)

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  • Ben Greiner

    Hi Susan, Have you tried restarting? :) Or check for iOS updates ... Settings > General > Software Update.

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  • Michele Hale

    What a star you are! I was slowly losing what's left of my mind over this but back to some semblance of normality now. Thank you!

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  • Linda Pesonen

    By the way i'm using an iPhone 6 on iOS 9.2

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  • Earlene McLean

    Thank you so much. Worked on iPad and iPhone.

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  • Ben Greiner

    Readers,

    If we've helped you solve a problem with this knowledge base article, then we'd REALLY appreciate a positive 5-start review on our Apple Consultants Network web page (click the "Write a Review" button).

    Thanks!

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  • Ben Greiner

    Hi JMN,

    What type of email account are you running? Not all email will have this option. IMAP and iCloud will have the "Advanced" option. Microsoft Exchange (ActiveSync) will not because it is not required (the folders are automatically mapped appropriately). I have not tested POP accounts (we also do  not recommended POP :).

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  • KMR

    Are these applicable to iPhone 5 as well? I went through these steps & found my settings to already be as suggested. The message that I am trying to delete does not show up when I check my email on a computer, or on my iPad, just my iPhone. Suggestions?

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  • Eefke Christis

    Hi Ben,

    I have tried all of the above steps. however I still end up with the mailbox settings being gray. I have another account hosted at the same provider and with the same settings and that one goes fine.

    I have copied the settings but it still does not work out.

    regards

    david

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