iOS Mail Smart Folders: How to Enable Unread, Flagged & More
Leveraging Smart Folders in iOS Mail
The iOS Mail application offers smart folders, which provide a way to view curated collections of email messages sourced from all your configured email accounts. These folders dynamically group emails based on specific criteria.
For instance, you can quickly access unread messages, flagged emails, those containing attachments, or correspondence designated as important from particular contacts. Utilizing smart folders can significantly streamline the process of managing a busy inbox.
Accessing the Unread Smart Folder
Let's explore how to enable the Unread smart folder for immediate access to all unread emails across all accounts within the Mail app. Begin by launching the Mail application by selecting the “Mail” icon on your device’s Home screen.
Ensure you are currently viewing the Mailboxes screen. If not, navigate back by tapping the back arrow located in the upper-left corner until the Mailboxes screen appears. Subsequently, tap “Edit” in the upper-right corner of the screen.
The Mailboxes editing screen displays all inboxes associated with your iPhone’s email accounts, alongside any existing smart folders. Mailboxes currently visible on the Mailboxes screen are indicated by checked blue circles.
To incorporate the Unread folder into your Mailboxes screen, simply tap the empty circle positioned to the left of “Unread”.
After selecting the desired inboxes and smart mailboxes for display, tap “Done” in the upper-right corner to save your changes.
You will now be able to view a total of 35 unread messages aggregated from all your email accounts. Tapping the Unread smart mailbox will reveal a consolidated view of all your unread emails.
As you read messages within the Unread smart mailbox, they are automatically removed from this view.
Understanding Smart Mailbox Functionality
It’s important to understand that messages within any smart mailbox are not moved; they are merely copies reflecting the original messages residing in your inboxes. Removing a message from a smart mailbox does not affect its presence in its original inbox.
To return to the Mailboxes screen, tap “Mailboxes” in the upper-left corner.
Once you have processed all unread emails, the Unread smart mailbox will become empty…
…and the message count associated with the Unread smart mailbox will disappear.
Managing Read Status in Smart Folders
If you wish to mark all messages within the Unread smart mailbox as read, a bulk selection option is not available. You must manually select and mark each message individually. Return to the Mailboxes screen and tap “Edit”. Then, select “Mark”, followed by “Mark as Read”.
Alternatively, you can mark all messages within each individual email account as read. To do this, tap on the mailbox representing the account containing unread messages on the Mailboxes screen.
Tap “Edit” in the upper-right corner.
Select “Mark All” located in the bottom-left corner.
Finally, tap “Mark as Read”.
Related: How to Only Get Notifications for Emails You Care About on Your iPhone
Exploring Other Smart Mailbox Options
Beyond the Unread folder, you can activate other useful smart mailboxes. These include the VIP mailbox for emails from designated VIP contacts, the Flagged mailbox for starred or flagged messages, the Attachments mailbox to view emails with files, the All Drafts mailbox for your saved drafts, or the To or CC mailbox which displays messages where your email address is listed in the To: or Cc: fields (excluding Bcc:).