How to Delete an Email Account on an iPhone

Remove an Email Address and all Messages—or Just Disable an Account

To remove an email account from your iPhone's Mail app, follow this basic procedure:

• ​Open Settings.
• Now open the ​Mail​ category
• Note: In earlier versions of iOS, this category may be called ​Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
• Tap ​Accounts​
• Select the email account you wish to remove under ​ACCOUNTS​.
• Tap ​Delete Account at the very bottom.
• Confirm by tapping ​Delete Account again.

Will Deleting an Email Account Remove All the Emails from the iPhone?

​Yes, the emails will be deleted along with the account.

This is true for all account types: IMAP, POP and Exchange as well as accounts configured with automatic settings (such as Gmail, Outlook Mail on the Web and, of course, iCloud Mail). iOS Mail will remove all emails and folders listed and created under the account.

​​That means you can no longer see messages in the Mail app. The messages may not be wiped physically from the phone immediately, though, so it might be possible to recover a portion using forensic data recovery.

Will Deleting an Email Account from the iPhone Delete the Account Itself?

No, your email account and address will remain unchanged.

You can still receive and send emails on the web (even your iPhone's favored browser) or in other email programs set up to use the email account.

​Will Deleting an Email Account Delete the Emails from the Server?

​No, for IMAP and Exchange accounts nothing will change on the server or in any other email program set up to access the same account.

iPhone Mail will simply stop accessing the messages and folders, and you will no longer be able to send email from the account.

​For POP accounts, nothing changes either. Do remember, though, that the iPhone could be the only place where these emails are stored. This is the case when iOS Mail is set up to delete emails from the server after downloading them and the same message have not been saved anywhere else before

Will I Still Have Access to the Account's Calendar?

​No, deleting an email account from an iPhone also removes calendars, notes, to-do items and contacts using the same account.

​If you still want to access these, you can disable only email for the account (see below).

​What if I Still Want to Be Able to Send Emails Using the Account's Email Address?

It is not necessary to have an email account set up on an iPhone to send messages using its address in the From: line.

Instead, you can add the address as an alias to an account you do use on the iPhone:

1. Open Settings.
2. Now open the Mail category.
3. Select Accounts.
4. Tap ​Email​ under POP ACCOUNT INFORMATION.
5. Now tap ​Add Another Email…​.
6. Enter the email address you want to use for sending.
7. Tap Return.
8. Now select the account's name at the top.
9. Tap ​Done​.

Note: this will only work with vanilla IMAP and POP accounts. With Exchange accounts and those using the Gmail, Yahoo! Mail and other account types with automatic settings, adding alias addresses for sending is not possible on the iPhone.

You may be able to send from addresses if you add them to the respective service for sending using their web interface, though. If you add an alias address to an Outlook.com account, for instance, it would be available for use in iOS Mail for sending as well—and automatically.

In the same vein, if you add a sending alias to a POP or IMAP account, make sure the account's outgoing mail server will let you send using the alias address.

​Can I Also Disable an Email Account Instead of Deleting It?

​Yes, you need not delete an email account from the iPhone entirely to remove or hide emails.

​To turn off an email account on iPhone (while still being able to access the same account's calendar, for example):

1. ​Open ​Settings​.
2. Go to the ​Mail​ category.
3. Tap ​Accounts​.
4. Now tap the email account you want to disable under ​ACCOUNTS​.
5. Make sure ​Mail​ is turned off for IMAP and Exchange accounts.
   
   Note: For POP email accounts, make sure ​Account​ is turned off on the same page.

1. Tap ​Done​.

How about Just Turning off Notifications (and Still Receive Emails)?

Of course, you could also disable automatic mail checking or notifications for the account. Then, you can still receive and send messages from the account, but it remains hidden from obvious sight and conveniently out of the way.

To turn off automatic mail check for an account on an iPhone:

1. Open Settings.
2. Go to the Mail category.
3. Select Accounts.
4. Open Fetch New Data.
5. Now tap the desired email account.
6. Make sure Manual is selected under SELECT SCHEDULE.

To disable only notifications for new messages you receive at an iPhone email account (while the messages are still downloaded automatically and ready once you open Mail):

1. Open ​Settings​.
2. Go to the ​Notifications​ category.
3. Select ​Mail​.
4. Now select the account for which you want to disable new mail notifications.
5. Make sure None is selected under ​ALERT STYLE WHEN UNLOCKED.
6. Now make sure ​Show in Notification Center and ​Show on Lock Screen are both turned off.
7. Optionally, you can also disable ​Badge App Icon.
   
   Note: If you keep this on, Mail will add the number of unread emails in the account's inbox to its icon's count on the Home screen.

To hide an account's inbox from the top of Mail's Mailboxes screen:

1. Open Mail.
2. Swipe left to go to the Mailboxes screen.
3. Tap Edit.
4. Make sure the account is off in the top section.
   
   Tip: You can also move an inbox or account further down by grabbing the three bar icon (≡) next to it.
   Note: To open an account's inbox at any time, tap Inbox under its name on the Mailboxes screen.

Will I Still Get VIP Alerts for Accounts Where Notifications are Disabled?

Yes, you will still received notifications for emails from VIP senders.

Notifications for these messages are handled separately; you will receive them even if you have notifications turned off for an account. To change the VIP notification settings, go to ​Notifications​ > ​Mail​ > ​VIP​ and make changes analogous to the ones for the email account.

Note: The same applies to thread notifications. If you have told iOS Mail to alert you to replies you receive in a conversation, the settings for thread notifications will apply instead of those for the account where you receive the email. You can change these alert settings under Notifications > Mail > Thread Notifications in the Settings app.