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- You can use two quick methods to delete email messages at the same time on your iPhone or iPad.
- The first method will let you delete all your emails at once while you can select and delete multiple emails at once using the second method.
- If your emails are stored in several folders and would like to delete all the emails in them, you can only do so by repeating the deletion process for each folder.
Deleting emails in one fell swoop is undoubtedly the best way to deal with thousands of old newsletters or emails that keep piling up every day, thereby increasing your storage space. But if you’ve ever wanted to delete emails in bulk on your iPhone, you might have been confused because you cannot trash all emails at once. Thankfully, there’s a workaround method for deleting all emails on an iPhone with just a few clicks.
How to delete all emails on iPhone or iPad
There is a hidden method in iOS that allows you to delete your entire email at once; the only caveat is that this method only works one folder at a time. You can only delete your emails in each folder. So if you have emails in multiple folders, you need to repeat the same process for each folder. This method should work on all iPhone models (including 6/6s/7/8/X/Xs/XR/11).
1. Open the Mail app from your iPhone’s home screen.
2. Select the folder you want to delete all emails from, such as your “inbox” folder or “All inboxes” (a combination of all inboxes on your iPhone).
3. Tap Edit at the upper-right corner.
4. Select the first email message in the folder.
5. After selecting the first email, scroll to the bottom of your screen and tap Move.
6. While still holding “Move” (do not release “Move” yet), tap the selected message on step 4 again to deselect it. You can now Let go of Move.
7. After some moment, it will bring you to a page that shows all the folders in the account, such as “Junk” and “Trash.” You’ll also see a message at the top of your screen indicating how many messages are selected. The more messages you select, the longer it will take to delete — a few emails can be deleted within seconds, while thousands of emails might take up to a minute.
8. Tap on Trash. All your selected emails will move to the trash, where you can then move them out or delete them permanently.
How to delete multiple emails on your iPhone or iPad
Unlike the first method that allows you to delete all emails at once, with this method — instead of deleting all emails in your inbox at a go, you can select and delete multiple emails within that inbox.
1. Open the Mail app.
2. Select the folder you want to delete all emails from, such as your inbox folder.
3. Tap Edit at the upper-right corner of the screen.
4. Tap Select All at the upper-left corner of your screen or individually select the emails you want to delete by “tapping the circle” to the left of each email.
5. Depending on your settings, you will see Trash or Archive. If you see “Archive,” tap and hold to see other options like “Trash” or “Trash Selected Messages” for iOS 12/13 users. Tap on the Trash. All your selected emails will move to the trash, where you can then move them out or delete them permanently.
Image credit: iPhonefaq