Looking for an effortless way to save emails for reference—and get them out of the way and inbox fast? Find out here how to archive a message (or multiple emails) in iPhone Mail.
First, Fall Is Snowing
As winter approaches the land, the rabbit approaches a hollow in it.
There, covered in fresh snow, it waits—kept relatively warm for a while by the snowy cover’s trapped air and avoiding needless exertion.
Now, with that in mind—want to keep an e-mail warm for a while, maybe a long while? Approach the iPhone email archive:
How to Archive Emails in iPhone Mail
In the Message List
Time needed: 1 minute
To archive an email fast in iPhone Mail:
- Swipe over the message to the right in the message list.
Choose your swipe: See below for configuring swiping actions.
- Carry on swiping until the archive folder icon moves to the right.
Alternative: You can also swipe briefly, then tap the archive folder icon.
Left swipe: Do this in particular if swiping to the right is set to delete (see below): swipe left briefly, then tap the archive folder icon.
See them again: How to Find Archived Emails in iPhone Mail
To archive using the message menu:
- Swipe over the message you want to archive to the left.
- Tap the three dots menu icon.
- Select Archive Message from the menu that has appeared.
How to Mass-Archive Multiple Emails on iPhone
To move multiple emails to the archive folder fast in iPhone Mail:
- Select all messages you want to archive in iPhone Mail.
Folders and search results: This works in email folders as well as search results.
Archive them all: You can also select all messages in a folder, of course. - Tap Mark in the bottom toolbar.
- Choose Mark as Read from the menu.
- Select the same messages again.
- Now tap Move in the toolbar.
- Tap the Archive folder.
Archive an Email that You Have Opened in iPhone Mail
To quickly archive a message you are viewing in iPhone Mail:
- Swipe to the right over the open message.
- Tap the archive folder icon that has appeared.
You can also move to the archive using the trash or archive button, of course:
- Tap the Archive button in the bottom toolbar
Delete button: With the Delete button, tap that until a context menu appears, then choose Archive Message from that menu.
Choose between deletion and archiving: See below for switching between a button for deletion and one dedicated to archiving.
How to Archive Emails in iPhone Mail: FAQ
What will archiving an email do in iPhone Mail?
When you archive an email, two things happen:
- The message is marked as read.
- The email is moved to the designated archiving folder.
How can I set up swiping right to archive?
To set up iPhone Mail so it lets you long-swipe right to archive:
- Open Settings on your iPhone Home screen.
- Go to Mail.
- Now open Accounts.
- Select the account for wich you want to set up long-swiping to archive.
- Go to the account’s Advanced Settings.
iCloud Mail: Choose iCloud followed by Mail and Advanced.
Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and Exchange: Select Account followed by Advanced.
IMAP: Tap Advanced right away. - Select Deleted Mailbox for MOVE DISCARDED MESSAGES INTO:.
- Tap < in the upper left corner until Done appears in the upper right corner.
- Now tap Done.
(How to archive emails in iPhone Mail tested with iOS 15–17; updated February 2024)