How to Postpone an Email in Outlook for iOS

Email & Messaging

Updated March 20, 2019

Did you promise to email a report — next year? Do you prefer not to see a certain message — right now? If you want to get back to an email later and keep your inbox clean, don't delete the message. Instead, schedule the email so that it is removed from your inbox and reappears when you need it.

Instructions in this article apply to Outlook for iOS (iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch).

Keep Your Inbox Clean and Deal With Emails in Time

The Outlook for iOS scheduling command moves mail to a special folder and returns it automatically to your Inbox (focused or other) when you need it.

Postpone an Email in Outlook for iOS

To schedule a message for later in Outlook for iOS and have it removed from your inbox until that time:

Long-press the message you want to postpone.
Tap the menu button (⠐⠐⠐), then tap Schedule.
Choose the desired time: Later Today, Tomorrow, Next Week, or Choose a Time.
If you selected Choose a Time, scroll through the dates and times until the time you want is highlighted.
Tap the check mark to schedule.

Postpone by Swiping

To set up a swiping gesture to schedule messages in Outlook for iOS:

Tap your email avatar (in the upper-left corner) to open the folder view, then tap Settings.
Tap Swipe Options.
Select Schedule for either Swipe Left or Swipe Right.
Tap the current action for the swiping gesture you want to use to postpone an email, then tap Schedule.
To postpone an email by swiping, swipe left or right (depending on which gesture you set up for scheduling) over the message in the email list.
Choose the desired scheduled time for the message to return.

Find a Postponed Message Before Its Due Time

To open an email that you have scheduled before it has been returned to the Outlook inbox folder:

Open the Scheduled folder for the account that holds the postponed email.
Find and open the desired message in the list.
Or use Search to find the desired email; it will include messages from the Scheduled folder.

Unschedule a Message in Outlook for iOS and Return It to the Inbox Instantly

To have an email returned to the Inbox instantly (and unschedule its future return):

Select the Scheduled folder and find the message you want to move back to the Inbox.
Use swiping or the message's menu to open the scheduling menu.
Select Unschedule (or another time) from the menu.
The email is moved to your Inbox.