How to Use the iCloud Mail “Archive” Folder

Quickly remove messages from your inbox and still keep them around for reference. Find out here how to use the iCloud Mail “Archive” folder and save emails fast using iCloud.com in a browser, Mail on a Mac, iPhone, or iPad—and any email program.

First, Thoreau’s Hardness Scale

When, in the 1830s and -40s, John Thoreau and his son Henry David began experimenting with clay as a binding agent for the graphite found in pencils, they discovered more clay meant a softer pencil and a thicker line.

To classify the different degrees of hardness (and, perchance, to promote their pencils), the Thoreaus used a numbering scale ranging from the soft no. 1 to the hard no. 4 pencil.

This is the reason the U.S., unlike most other countries, to this day use numbers to grade pencils (no. 2 corresponds to an international “HB”, for instance).

Want to retain something, too? On a hardness scale from 1 to 4, archiving emails in iCloud Mail is a sure 1:

How to Use the iCloud Mail “Archive” Folder for Email

Using an iCloud.com Keyboard Shortcut

Using the iCloud Mail Toolbar

To archive a message (or a bunch of them) in iCloud Mail using the iCloud Mail toolbar:

1. Open the message you want to archive in the reading pane.
   Multiple emails: You can, again, archive multiple messages at once; hold down the Command key (on a Mac) or the Ctrl key (on Windows and Linux) while clicking messages in the message list to select them.
2. Click the Move to Folder button () in the iCloud Mail toolbar.
   Trash instead of archive: iCloud Mail lets you replace the Trash button with an Archive button. With that set up, click it instead. (See below for configuration.)
3. Select Archive from the list of folders.

Using Drag and Drop

You can also move emails to the iCloud Mail’s archiving folder using dragging and dropping:

1. Make the list of Mailboxes visible on iCloud.com.
   Here’s how: If you do not see mailboxes and email folders on the left, click the mailboxes button on top of the message list.
2. Highlight one message (or, of course, multiple messages; see above) in an email folder on iCloud.com.
3. Click on any email in the selection with the left mouse button and keep the button pressed.
4. Move the mouse cursor over Archive under Mailboxes.
5. Release the mouse button.

Using an Email Program

To archive emails if you access iCloud Mail through an email program (such as Mail for macOS or iOS, Outlook, Mail for Windows, etc.):

• Move the message to the Archive IMAP folder.
  Shortcuts: Some email programs let you set up an Archive button and keyboard shortcut for moving messages to the iCloud Mail Archive folder.

Using iOS Mail on iPhone and iPad

To archive an email fast in Mail for iOS and iPad OS:

• Swipe right over the message in a message list or with the message open and tap the Archive button.
  No scrolling: With the message to archive open, try swiping over the subject line if swiping the message body merely scrolls that.

With an email open in Mail:

1. Long-tap the Trash icon.
2. Select Archive Message from the menu that has appeared.
   iPad keyboard shortcut: On an iPad, you can also press Command Control A on a physical keyboard.

Using macOS Mail on a Mac

To archive quickly in Mail for macOS:

1. Open or highlight the message.
2. Click the Archive button in the toolbar (either the message’s toolbar or the folder’s).
   Mail keyboard shortcut: For swift action, you can also press Command Control A.

How to Use the iCloud Mail Archive Folder: FAQ

Where do emails go if I archive them in iCloud Mail?

Messages archived using either of the methods above will be in the Archive folder.

You can access this folder using iCloud Mail in a browser at iCloud.com or in any email program connecting to your iCloud Mail account using IMAP.

Can I get an “Archive” button in iCloud Mail at iCloud.com?

Yes.

To replace the Trash with an Archive button:

1. Click the Show Actions menu gear icon in your iCloud Mail upper left corner.
   No gear: If you do not see the gear icon, first click Show Mailboxes to reveal the iCloud Mail folder list, and you will find the button at the list’s top.
2. Select Preferences… from the menu that has appeared.
3. Go to the General category.
4. Check Show Archive button in the toolbar.
5. Click Done.

In the Archive folder, the button will be present—but inactive.

In any folder, you can still delete emails easily using the Backspace iCloud Mail keyboard shortcut or, of course, by moving the message to the Trash folder.

Can I delete the iCloud “Archive” folder?

No.

Like Inbox or Trash, Archive is a folder that iCloud Mail itself maintains. You cannot create or delete it.

(How to use the iCloud Mail Archive folder updated March 2024)