How to Delete Deleted Emails From Your iPhone

Empty the Trash folder to keep fewer deleted emails

E-mail application on iPhone 6S Screen
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by Heinz Tschabitscher
An independent writer who has reviewed hundreds of email programs and services since 1997.
Updated May 30, 2019

When you delete emails from your iPhone, they go into the Trash folder so that you can easily restore them should you want to. It's a good idea to occasionally delete the deleted emails for good so that they don't pile up and use up valuable storage.

Removing deleted items from the Trash folder helps free up storage on your phone and can declutter the Trash folder. It's much easier to find an email you've already deleted if you don't have to sift through hundreds of other messages.

How to Remove Deleted Emails

You have two options for deleted emails you've already sent to Trash: pick which ones to permanently remove or empty the whole Trash folder at once.

  1. Open the Mailboxes page by tapping the link from the top left corner of the Mail app. This will list every folder in your email account.

  2. Select Trash.

    If you have more than one email account on your phone, be sure to find the Trash folder that corresponds to the account from which you want the emails deleted. If you see only one Trash folder, then that's the only email account you have turned on.

  3. Tap Edit at the top, select the specific emails you want to remove, and then choose Delete. Or, to remove all the emails at once, go to Edit > Delete All.

    Back, Trash, Checkboxes in iOS Mail

  4. The emails you deleted are now gone from the Trash folder and can't be recovered.

Another way to delete emails from Trash is from the webmail site for your email provider. For example, you can access the Trash folder at Gmail.com to delete all of the deleted items. However, this particular method will delete emails from your iPhone's Trash folder only if you have IMAP set up.