Apple Mail app: 6 ideas for attending to inbox zero

Some folks obtain and preserve zero unread emails; some let that pink badge climb into the 1000’s. It’s by no means too late to alter your methods — you may turn into a type of clear inbox folks like me. These six ideas will show you how to get to Inbox Zero utilizing options in Apple’s Mail app that you just won’t have recognized about.

The plain Tip No. 0 is that this: You need to at all times hit the Unsubscribe button on the backside of each unsolicited promotional e-mail as quickly as you get the primary one.

After you kill all these undesirable subscriptions, these six lesser-known options of the Apple Mail app on iPhone, Mac and iPad will make you a real professional at managing your e-mail.

Secret options in Apple Mail app

Present me somebody who has a grip on their e-mail and I’ll present you an precise, real-life unicorn. There’s nothing extra hellish than another person’s e-mail inbox.

But it surely doesn’t must be this fashion. Should you spend quite a lot of time in Apple’s Mail app, you may make the most of these tricks to type out the insanity. There are literally fairly just a few energy options in Mail, despite the fact that the app may appear sort of primary at first look.

Should you’re too busy to learn our roundup of lesser-known Apple Mail app ideas, you may watch our fast video:

Desk of contents: Secret options in Apple Mail

1. Redirect as a substitute of Ahead
2. Customise the swipe gestures
3. Activate extra mail classes
4. Compact multi-window mode on the Mac
5. See a number of emails directly on iPhone and iPad
6. Greater previews

No. 1: Redirect as a substitute of forwarding

Think about somebody sends you an e-mail that it’s essential to cross alongside to another person, however you don’t wish to be concerned within the dialog anymore. There’s a greater approach to deal with this than simpling forwarding that e-mail, and it’s referred to as “Redirect.”

Redirecting the e-mail will take away you from the dialog from right here on out, so that you’re not on the whim of everybody else within the chain. In line with Apple Help, “Solely the tackle of the unique sender is proven to the recipient, and the recipient’s reply goes solely to the unique sender.”

To allow this on the Mac, it’s essential to add a Redirect button to the Mail app’s toolbar. Proper-click (or maintain the Management key) on the toolbar and click on Customise Toolbar. Click on and drag the Redirect button into the toolbar.

Sadly, this function has not but made its approach to the iPhone or iPad. 

No. 2: Customise the swipe gestures in Apple’s Mail app

I not often delete emails; I’m a serial archiver. In truth, I’m at all times alarmed after I arrange a brand new gadget and discover the default swipe-left motion tries to delete my emails as a substitute of archiving them. (Additionally, NetNewsWire, my beloved RSS shopper, has educated me to make use of swipe-right as Mark Unread.)

Possibly your mind works completely in another way and you discover holding on to all of your outdated e-mail horrifying. Fortunately, we are able to all have what we wish if we customise the swipe actions in Apple’s Mail app.

On the iPhone and iPad, go to Settings > Apps > Mail > Swipe Choices. You’ll be able to set totally different actions for left and proper swipes. I like to recommend preserving it constant along with your Mac settings so that you don’t get confused.

On the Mac, hit ⌘, (the shortcut is definitely Command-comma) or go to Mail > Settings within the menu bar. Click on the Viewing tab. Sadly, you may’t actually customise which swipe motion does what. Swipe-right at all times toggles Learn or Unread; swipe-left at all times discards the message. However you may choose whether or not discarded messages go to Archive or Trash.

No. 3: Activate extra mail classes

Swipe again in your listing of emails and you will note a listing of mailboxes with all the standard suspects: Flagged, Unread, Archive, and so on. However in case you faucet Edit within the prime proper, you may customise this listing.

You’ll be able to activate sensible folders that present your muted threads, e-mail that got here in right this moment, e-mail with attachments, despatched mail you need to comply with up on, and emails from VIP contacts. I believe these are probably the most helpful sensible folders, though there are just a few extra you may select from.

No. 4: Compact multi-window mode on Mac model of the Apple Mail app

The complete three-column structure in Apple’s Mail app can take up quite a lot of your Mac’s display screen house. Should you use a 13-inch MacBook Air, you won’t need the mailbox listing and the e-mail preview on the display screen on a regular basis.

To alter issues up, hover your cursor over the divider between the 2 columns. Click on and drag it in order that the preview column disappears. You are able to do the identical factor for the sidebar (or simply go to View > Conceal Sidebar). Then, you may shrink the Mail window to a a lot smaller dimension than earlier than.

To open an e-mail, double-click it within the listing. It’ll open in a brand new window that you may transfer round, resize and shut utterly independently of the message listing. You’ll be able to simply have a bunch of emails aspect by aspect. To navigate totally different mailboxes like Despatched and Archive, you should use the keyboard shortcuts ⌘1 to ⌘7.

No. 5: See a number of emails directly in Apple Mail app on iPhone and iPad

Within the Mail app on the iPhone, the New Mail window slides up and takes over the entire display screen. However what if you wish to return and have a look at a distinct e-mail for reference? What if it’s essential to compose a number of emails directly?

Fortunately, there’s a simple approach to view a number of emails directly. Simply swipe down on the New Mail pop-up and hold shopping the app. Come again to it at any time by tapping on the minimized title bar.

In truth, you may compose one other e-mail on the identical time. Faucet on the title bar on the backside to see all the things you have got open and change between your drafts.

No. 6: Greater previews

By default, the messages listing of the Apple Mail app exhibits two strains of textual content to preview the contents of the e-mail. You would possibly wish to see extra; you won’t want e-mail previews in any respect. The excellent news is, it’s straightforward to customise precisely how a lot or how little of a preview you see. On the iPhone and iPad, go to Settings > Apps > Mail > Preview and set it anyplace from None to 5 Strains. On the Mac, that’s in Mail > Settings > Viewing > Record preview.

Some folks set the mail preview to 5 strains to allow them to see an excellent chunk of the e-mail’s contents earlier than opening it. Personally, I attempted turning off previews fully for some time. Nevertheless, I didn’t like how dense the listing acquired, so I set it again to 2 strains.

Get much more Apple Mail ideas

Can’t get sufficient Apple Mail ideas? We’ve acquired a great deal of different how-tos that designate superior options like unsending messages and profiting from Apple’s privateness options:

Study all of them and also you’ll positively spend much less time coping with e-mail.

We initially printed this text on six hidden options within the Apple Mail app on Could 20, 2023. We up to date it with the newest info on September 4, 2024, and January 12, 2025.