Many people tend to overlook iOS Mail, Apple’s e-mail program for iPhone and iPad, in favor of bigger and better known e-mail options. But in fact, iOS Mail is a mature and powerful dedicated e-mail application, optimized for mobile use, that delivers crisply and beautifully rendered e-mails that are easy to read, sort, and archive. If you’re thinking of giving iOS Mail a try, read on for some handy tips, tricks, and shortcuts that make using the program a breeze.
How to search
Are you looking for one particular message among hundreds? With iOS Mail, you can search by sender, subject, time sent, text keywords, and various other attributes, either within a single folder, across multiple folders in an account, or across multiple accounts. Simply scroll to the top of the message list, click the “Search” field, and enter your chosen search term. You can also select various filters, such as choosing to see only flagged messages or messages with attachments.
How to sync
If you like to be able to check new and recent messages on your iPhone but don’t necessarily want all the e-mail from your Exchange mailbox to automatically download to your device, the “Days to Sync” feature lets you choose how many days of recent mail you want to synchronize with your iPhone. To set this up, select “Accounts & Passwords” in your iOS Mail settings, tap your desired Exchange account, and then tap “Mail Days to Sync.” This will give you the option to pick the time limit beyond which you don’t want mail to be sent to your iPhone automatically. For example, you might choose to synchronize only mail that is less than a week old. If you’d like to synchronize all mail, select the “No Limit” option.
How to file and organize
People who use iOS Mail to access a number of different accounts, including Gmail or Yahoo Mail, will appreciate a bit of extra help in keeping everything organized. That’s why iPhone Mail makes it easy to create custom folders for more efficient message filing and storage. To create a new folder, go to the folders list in your iPhone Mail account, tap “Edit” at the top of the screen, select the “New Mailbox” option in the bottom right corner, and type in the name for your new folder. If you want to move the newly created folder to a different parent folder, just tap the account under “Mailbox Location.” To transfer messages into your custom folders, select the mailbox containing the message you want to move, tap “Edit,” highlight the chosen e-mail by touching the circle to its left, and then tap “Move.” A list of your custom folders will appear and you can select your e-mail’s destination.
How to set up an e-mail signature
If you’ve ever received an e-mail from an iPhone user, you’ve probably noticed the default “Sent from my iPhone” signature that appears at the bottom of all iPhone e-mails. If you’d prefer to have your e-mails conclude with something more personal, like a website URL or a meaningful quote, changing the default e-mail signature is a snap. Select the “Mail” menu from your Settings app, then scroll down to select “Signature” from the “Composing” section, usually located at the very bottom. Then you can choose if you want your new signature to be used by all the e-mail addresses connected to the Mail app (choose “All Accounts”) or just by one specific account (choose “Per Account”). A space will be provided where you can enter the text for your new signature; save the changes by tapping the “Mail” link at the top left of your screen.
How to create a calendar event from an e-mail
iOS Mail is designed to make your life easier. That’s why you’ll see dates and times in an e-mail message underlined as if they were web hyperlinks. Mail has detected that these are events that you might want to add to your calendar, and it’s ready to help you do that quickly. Just open your message and tap the underlined date or time. A menu will appear: select “Create Event,” verify the starting time and date, and add a name for the event or any other details.
How to view text with larger type
If you’re having trouble comfortably reading e-mails on your iPhone, there’s an easier and more lasting fix than having to use a pinch gesture every time you want to zoom in. Devices with iOS 8+ support the Dynamic Type feature, which allows you to change the font size for a number of built-in apps, including Mail. In your Settings app, select “Display & Brightness,” then choose the “Text Size” menu. A slider will appear that you can drag to increase or decrease the default font size.