This article explains how to mute an email thread in iOS 13 either from the Mail inbox or from an opened email. This information applies to iOS 13 and later for iPhone and iPod touch and in iPadOS.
What to Know
- From Mail app: Open the Mail app and select an inbox. Swipe left on the email or thread you want to mute. Tap More > Mute.From opened email: Open a message. Tap the Reply icon. Swipe up to reveal more options. Tap Mute.Muted emails are marked as either Mark as Read or Archive or Delete depending on your iPhone settings.
How to Mute an Email Thread in iOS 13
Apple iOS 13 added a wealth of new functionality to the iPhone and iPod Touch. Along with Dark Mode, video editing, and lyrics in Apple Music, iOS 13 introduces some new options for how you handle email. Chief among these is the ability to mute email threads.
You don’t have to turn on this feature to start using it. It’s built into the Mail app, and you have two ways to use it. You use the first method in the inbox.
- Open the Mail app on your iPhone.
- If you have multiple inboxes, select the one containing the thread you want to mute or tap All Mailboxes.
- Swipe left on the thread you want to mute.
- Tap the More option (it looks like three dots in a gray circle).
- Tap Mute.
- Muted threads have an icon that looks like a bell with a line through it.
- Repeat these steps, but tap Unmute in the More menu, to turn notifications back on.
How to Mute an Email Thread in an Open Email Message
If you already have the email open and decide that you don’t want to receive notifications for any additional messages in that thread, you can also mute a thread from within an open email. Follow these steps to do so.
Open the Mail app on your iPhone.
If you have multiple inboxes, select the one containing the thread you want to mute or tap All Mailboxes.
Swipe left on the thread you want to mute.
Tap the More option (it looks like three dots in a gray circle).
Tap Mute.
Muted threads have an icon that looks like a bell with a line through it.
Repeat these steps, but tap Unmute in the More menu, to turn notifications back on.
- Open a message in the thread you want to mute.
- Tap the Reply icon.
- Swipe up to reveal more options.
- Tap Mute.
- You can unmute a thread from the same menu.
Decide What Happens to Muted Emails
Along with muting an email thread, iOS 13 also lets you decide what happens to new messages you receive on a a conversation you’ve silenced. Follow these steps to set that preference.
Open a message in the thread you want to mute.
Tap the Reply icon.
Swipe up to reveal more options.
You can unmute a thread from the same menu.
You only have to mute a thread on one device. The setting transfers to other devices that use your Apple ID.
- Open Settings.
- Select Mail.
- Tap Muted Thread Action.
- Select the option you want.
- Mark as Read keeps new emails in your inbox but won’t show them as new. Use this if you want to read the messages later but don’t need an alert every time you receive a new one.Archive or Delete is for messages you have no intention of reading. When a new message comes in on a thread you’ve muted, this option will move them directly to your Archived folder or the trash, depending on how you’ve set up your inbox.
Why You’d Mute an Email Thread
If you receive notifications for every message that hits your inbox, having an overly active conversation going can get annoying. You can turn off notifications for the bothersome thread without missing the alerts for the other emails you receive.
Open Settings.
Select Mail.
Tap Muted Thread Action.
Select the option you want.
- Mark as Read keeps new emails in your inbox but won’t show them as new. Use this if you want to read the messages later but don’t need an alert every time you receive a new one.Archive or Delete is for messages you have no intention of reading. When a new message comes in on a thread you’ve muted, this option will move them directly to your Archived folder or the trash, depending on how you’ve set up your inbox.
Before this feature, your only options were to deal with all the notifications or turn them off completely. Muting a single thread gives you more control over which alerts make it to your lock screen.
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