Many people have asked, "how do I get my email back on my iPhone?" Whether you accidentally deleted the Mail app on your iPhone, moved the app, or are having issues finding the All Inboxes folder within your Mail app, we can help! Let's cover how to get the Mail app back on your iPhone.
Jump To:
- How to Reinstall Mail App on iPhone
- How to Put Mail App Back on Home Screen
- How to Retrieve Mail from a Previously Inactive Email on iPhone
- All Inboxes Option Disappeared on iPhone
Where Is My Email App?
Your Mail app is missing for one of two reasons: you've removed the app from your Home Screen or you've accidentally deleted the app. In either case, the solution is fairly straightforward. If your iPhone Mail app icon is gone from your Home Screen, you should first check the App Library on your iPhone. If you see your Mail app in the App Library, you can just move it back to your Home Screen. Also, be sure to check out how to add multiple Gmail accounts to your iPhone if you have more than one email account.
If you didn't see the Mail app in the App Library, don't worry. You're not the only iOS user who has reported that their iPhone Mail icon has disappeared (or that another built-in app is missing). If your Mail app has suddenly disappeared, it's likely you somehow activated the edit Home Screen function and accidentally deleted the Mail app. In the sections below, we'll cover how to get the Mail app back on your iPhone and re-activate the email accounts synced to your Mail app. This way, it will appear exactly as it did before.
Related: How to Block Spam Text Messages from Email Accounts
How to Reinstall Mail App on iPhone
If you've accidentally deleted the native Apple mail app, here's how to restore the Mail app on your iPhone.
- Open the App Store app.
- Tap the Search tab at the bottom of the screen.
- Type Mail or Mail app in the search field.
- Tap Search.
- Locate the Mail icon in the list of options and tap the cloud icon to download the app.
Now the Mail app has been reinstalled on your iPhone! If you find these tips helpful, consider signing up for our free Tip of the Day newsletter to stay current on new iOS updates and features.
How to Get My Email Back on My Phone
After downloading the Mail app, it will appear on one of your Home Screens, but perhaps not the Home Screen or location you want. You can easily shift your Mail app to a different Home Screen or place it on the dock at the bottom of the screen. To move your Mail app to either location, follow the steps below to learn how to add the Mail app back to the Home screen on your iPhone.
- Swipe left or right to navigate to the Home Screen containing the newly downloaded Mail app.
- Tap and hold the background until the icons jiggle. This indicates that you are in Home Screen editing mode.
- Drag the app to reposition it; you can drag it across Home Screens by pulling it up to the edge until you see a different Home Screen.
- If you want to add the Mail app to the dock, drag it to the bottom of the screen.
- Tap Done when you are happy with the location of the Mail app.
Pro Tip: Just because your iPhone Mail app icon is gone from your Home Screen doesn't necessarily mean that the app is no longer on your iPhone. You can store apps in your App Library without having the icon on your Home Screen to reduce clutter on your phone. Here's how to find a hidden app on iPhone.
How to Retrieve Mail from a Previously Inactive Email on iPhone
Another thing to keep in mind is that once you've retrieved your iPhone Mail app, you may need to reactivate the applicable email accounts in your Settings in order to get your email inbox back to the way it was. Here's how:
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap Mail.
- Tap Accounts.
- Select an inactive email account you want to re-enable.
- Toggle the Mail setting to the on position and then return to Accounts.
Repeat these steps for each account you want to use. After the account has been re-activated, the emails from that account will appear on your iPhone.
How to Fix Apple Mail All Inboxes Disappeared Issue
As people are re-syncing their email accounts, they sometimes find that the All Inboxes folder allowing them to view emails from all synced accounts has disappeared. There's an easy way to get your All Inboxes mailbox back on your iPhone. Here's how to re-enable the All Inboxes folder in the Mail app:
- Open the Mail app.
- If you're in a specific inbox, go to the Mailboxes view by backing out of
whichever inbox you're currently in (usually by tapping the upper-left corner).
- Tap Edit.
- Tap All Inboxes to add the folder, so you can see all emails from accounts synced to the Mail app.
- Tap Done in the upper-right corner.
This should restore your All Inboxes folder in your iPhone email. Hopefully, your email is now placed on your Home Screen and set up exactly the way it was before. If you'd like to further organize your Mail app, you can also learn how to create email folders on your iPhone and iPad.
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