Apple Mail is a useful app for managing emails on your iPhone, but its default settings aren’t optimized for the best experience. Thankfully, you only have to make a few adjustments to reduce battery, save data usage, and unlock handy features you’ll never want to go without again.
1
Switch Mail From Push to Fetch
By default, the Apple Mail app uses a “Push” setting. This keeps it constantly connected to the email server to retrieve new emails in real-time. While convenient for immediate updates, this feature can drain your battery and network resources. If you don’t need instant notifications, you should switch to the “Fetch” option.
With “Fetch,” the app checks for new emails at different intervals—I’ve found 15 minutes to be a good balance. This reduces the frequency of background checks, conserving battery life and data on your iPhone. To make the switch, open the Settings app, go to Mail > Accounts > Fetch New Data, and toggle off “Push.”
2
Adjust the Fetch Interval
When you change from “Push” to “Fetch,” your iPhone will, by default, fetch new data from the servers only when connected to Wi-Fi and charging. Otherwise, it will fetch data whenever you open the Apple Mail app. However, you can set it to fetch data at specific intervals, like Hourly, Every 30 Minutes, or Every 15 Minutes.
This adjustment reduces the frequency of background checks, saving battery and data while ensuring you receive emails regularly and don’t miss important updates. To set your preferred Fetch interval, go to Settings > Mail > Accounts > Fetch New Data and select the interval that works best for you.
3
Disable Remote Image Loading
When you open an email in Apple Mail, remote content like images, videos, or stylesheets is automatically downloaded from the internet. This can expose you to inappropriate material, allow malicious code to run, and put your email account or device at risk. It also drains your device’s battery and uses bandwidth, and can even inform the sender that you’ve read the email.
You should turn it off to enhance your privacy, security, and iPhone’s performance. To disable remote content loading in the Apple Mail app, open Settings > Mail > Privacy Protection and turn off the toggle next to “Protect Mail Activity.”
4
Modify the Undo Send Delay
We’ve all been there—sending an email by mistake that’s incomplete, contains errors, or is missing an attachment. While Apple Mail allows you to undo sent emails, the default undo period is just 10 seconds, which isn’t enough. Thankfully, you can extend it to 20 or 30 seconds.
By increasing the delay, Apple Mail will keep the undo option visible for up to 30 seconds, giving you plenty of time to retract emails before they leave your outbox. To extend the undo delay, go to Settings > Mail, then select the “Undo Send Delay” option under Sending. Choose either “20 Seconds” or “30 Seconds” and you’re good to go.
5
Customize Your Swipe Actions
Apple Mail allows you to perform several actions using swipe gestures. By default, swiping left archives an email, and swiping right marks it as read or unread.
While you can’t change the default left swipe to anything other than archive, you can add secondary actions like “flag,” “mark as read,” or “move message” and apply them manually after swiping left.
For the right swipe, you can change the action to “flag,” “move message,” or “archive.” If you choose “archive” for the right swipe, the default left swipe action will automatically switch to “Delete.”
To adjust these gestures, open Settings > Mail > Swipe Options. From there, tap “Swipe Right” and “Swipe Left” to modify the actions for each swipe direction.
6
Choose Your Default Email Account
When you add multiple accounts to Apple Mail, the iPhone automatically uses the default email account when sending attachments outside the Apple Mail app. For instance, if you send an image from the Photos app via the Mail app, the default email address will be populated in the “From” field.
If you often have to manually change the “From” field to a different email address, you can eliminate this hassle by adjusting the default account in the Mail settings. To do so, open the Settings app, navigate to “Mail,” scroll down, and tap on “Default Account.”
Now, select the email account you want to use as the default when sending messages from other apps.
7
Update Your Default Signature
Do you see the “Sent from my iPhone” text whenever you start composing an email in the Apple Mail app? This is the app’s default signature. If you’d prefer it not to appear, you can easily update your email signature to include your name, designation, or other relevant details, turning it into a digital business card.
Apple Mail even lets you set different signatures for each account. To update your signature, go to Settings > Mail > Signature. To apply the same signature to all accounts, select “All Accounts” and make your changes.
Alternatively, you can choose an individual account and update its signature separately.
If you prefer not to use a signature, leave the signature box empty, and your emails will be sent without one.
8
Disable Cellular Data for Mail
Apple Mail uses your Wi-Fi connection to fetch data, sync emails, and perform other tasks. If Wi-Fi isn’t available and cellular data is enabled, it switches to cellular data and uses that to perform its operations.
If you prefer to restrict the Mail app to Wi-Fi and prevent it from using cellular data to avoid extra charges, you can turn it off.
To prevent Apple Mail from using cellular data, open the Settings app, go to “Mail,” and toggle off “Cellular Data” or “Mobile Data.” While this will help you save data and avoid charges, you may miss important updates, as your iPhone will only check for new emails and notify you when you’re connected to Wi-Fi.
These are a few examples of how Apple Mail default settings aren’t well-optimized and how adjusting them can improve your experience drastically. If you’ve never made these tweaks, give them a try, but don’t be afraid to change them back if they somehow hinder your overall experience, too.