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Have you ever accidentally deleted an important email on your iPhone or iPad and then panicked? Do not worry, it is possible to recover it easily and quickly, provided you act swiftly. By default, Mail stores deleted messages for a week, but you can change this to a longer or shorter period of time. In this article, we will explain how to retrieve deleted emails in iOS Mail.
If you also need advice on retrieving deleted text messages, check out our article on how to retrieve deleted messages on your iPhone.
Use the Undo Gesture
Many people do not realize that iOS has an undo gesture, which is very helpful and widely used. If you have accidentally deleted an important email, you can easily retrieve it by quickly shaking or vibrating your iPhone or iPad. If the app supports the undo gesture, a dialog box will appear on the screen saying ‘Undo Delete.’ Tap ‘Undo’ to retrieve the deleted email, or ‘Cancel’ if you do not want to undo the delete operation.
Fortunately, Apple’s own apps, including Mail, support gesture support.
If you recover an email using this method, it will be restored to your inbox, so you won’t need to worry about locating it. Just tap the Inbox, Mailboxes, or the rear chevron button and you should be able to find the email that you’ve restored.
Use Redo Gesture
It’s worth noting that the undo gesture is a one-step undo. You cannot swipe to undo an action and then swipe again to redo the action: a second swipe will redo the action rather than undo it. Although this feature is useful if you change your mind about undoing a specific action, it does not allow you to go back multiple steps. You will need to use more advanced options if it has been a while since you deleted the email.
Use Delayed Undo
This recovery method works if you haven’t immediately recognized that you’ve deleted an important email. If you’ve performed other actions in the Mail app and the undo gesture can’t reach far enough to undo the deletion, you’ll need to look for the temporary retention folder into which Mail stores emails that are marked for deletion but not yet deleted (Mail will do this after waiting a week by default).
The name of the folder depends on the email service you use but typically includes phrases such as ‘deleted messages,’ ‘trash,’ or something similar. For example, if you’re using a Hotmail account, you can tap Hotmail in the top left corner (or a reverse chevron button) to return to the accounts/inboxes menu and then scroll down to the HOTMAIL section and tap ‘trash.’ Next, find the deleted email and open it, then tap the ‘folder’ icon at the bottom of the screen (located between the flag icon and trash bin) and select the inbox (or any active folder) to send it back to.
If you use Gmail or a Gmail-based corporate email configuration, the process is slightly different as you do not delete emails in the same way but rather ‘archive’ them.
To locate your archived email, you can simply open the ‘All Messages’ folder. Once you’ve found a deleted email, tap it to open the message, then tap the ‘folder’ icon at the bottom and send it back to your inbox.
If you need help setting up email on your iPad, iPhone, or Mac, read this guide on how to set up email.
FAQs
1. How long will emails be stored in the deleted items folder in iOS Mail?
By default, iOS Mail stores deleted messages for one week.
2. Can I use the undo gesture to retrieve a deleted email in any app on my iPhone or iPad?
No, the undo gesture is limited to apps that support it, including Mail and other Apple apps that use it. Third-party apps may have their own ways of undoing actions.