Swipe to Delete Mail Not Working on iPhone or iPad?

By Elizabeth Jones 59 comments Last updated October 20, 2019

Are you trying to swipe to delete mail on your iPhone’s or iPad’s Mail App, but only see the options to Archive, Flag, or More? Or wondering what the heck happened to the Delete Trashcan option? Are you only finding the Delete Trashcan in the Trash folder?

We get these common questions a lot, and basically, they boil down to “how do I delete emails on my iPhone, not archive??” So if you’re looking for a fast way to delete emails, so they go straight to Trash instead of Archive, we’ve got some tips for you.

Many of our readers tell us that after updating to a new iOS, they find their Mail App Settings return to defaults and are only able to locate the Delete Trashcan when actually in the Trash folder. Not good! And plenty confusing.

So let’s get to it!

Since iOS often sets quite a few settings back to default, we need to actually tell our iPad’s or iPhone’s Mail App to delete that email when we swipe left. So you guessed it, we need to visit the Settings App.

iOS 12+ and iPadOS call this setting Passwords & Accounts and in iOS 11, this as Accounts & Passwords, so if you’re having trouble locating your Email credentials and account information make sure you check out Settings > Passwords & Accounts (or Accounts & Passwords.)

How-To Change Swipe to Delete Mail Instead of Archive Mail iOS 11+ & iPadOS

As mentioned in iOS (11+) and iPadOS, it’s a little more complicated.

But you can update your Mail Account Settings to allow swipe to delete messages. We’re using a Gmail account as an example but you find similar settings for Outlook and others.

The trick is to find the heading “Move Discarded Messages Into” and update that to Deleted Mailbox.

Change Your Swipe iOS 11+ and iPadOS

Go to Settings > Passwords & Accounts (or Accounts & Passwords)
Select your Gmail Account (or another email account)
Tap the Account Name
Choose Advanced (also called Advanced Settings)
Tap Deleted Mailbox under Move Discarded Messages Into
1. A checkmark appears next to Deleted Mailbox
Verify that under Mailbox Behaviors your Deleted Mailbox is pointing to the Trash
1. If not, tap it and change to Trash
2. Not all email accounts offer this setting
Press the Back Arrow to return to your account
Tap Done
You may need to restart your iDevice for changes to take effect

Perform these same steps for all your Mail App connected email accounts.

Once you update all accounts, confirm that swiping now shows the Trash to delete individual emails instead of Archive.

Steps for iOS 10 Mail Swipe to Delete

Go to Settings > Mail
Tap Accounts to display all your connected email accounts
Select your email account
Tap Advanced
Find Move Discarded Messages Into
Select Deleted Mailbox instead of Archive
1. Deleted Mailbox should now have a checkmark
Press the Back button to return to Account Details
Tap Done
You may need to restart your iDevice for changes to take effect

Perform these same steps for all your Mail App connected email accounts.

Want to Keep Swipe to Archive?

If you want to keep swipe to Archive Mail, it’s still fairly simple to delete your email. It just takes a couple of extra steps. When swiping on an email choose More instead of Archive. Then tap Move Message and then select your Trash to delete that email.

Elizabeth Jones

For most of her professional life, Amanda Elizabeth (Liz for short) trained all sorts of folks on how to use media as a tool to tell their own unique stories. She knows a thing or two about teaching others and creating how-to guides!

Her clients include Edutopia, Scribe Video Center, Third Path Institute, Bracket, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Big Picture Alliance.

Elizabeth received her Master of Fine Arts degree in media making from Temple University, where she also taught undergrads as an adjunct faculty member in their department of Film and Media Arts.