How to Archive And Find Archived Email on iPhone
Archiving emails on iPhone is easier than you might think, as both its native and third-party apps offer several ways to archive email in an instant.
No matter which mail client you're using, the process for archiving emails is very similar. To archive a message you have open, simply tap the Archive button — which usually looks like a bankers box. In Mail and Gmail, this button can be found in the top-right corner. In Outlook, it's down at the bottom.
To archive emails in bulk in Apple Mail on iPhone, follow these steps:
- Head to your inbox and tap Select in the top right.
- Select the messages you want to archive or simply tap Select all.
- Tap the Archive button, which appears at the bottom of the screen.
📌 Note: to use the Select all feature, be sure to change to List View of your mailbox.
The emails you selected will now end up in your iPhone email archive. They will no longer clutter up your inbox, but they can be easily found if you need them later.
⚠️ If you see the Trash option instead of Archive, ensure that Archive is enabled for the account: go to Settings → Apps → Mail → Mail Accounts. Select the account, then navigate to Account Settings → Advanced → and choose Archive Mailbox under Move Discarded Messages Into.
How to find archived emails on iPhone in Mail
One of the simplest ways to find archived emails in Mail is to simply search for it. Mail will search your Archive folder as well as your inbox (learn more about Mac mail archiving). Alternatively, you can trawl through your iPhone email Archive folder manually by following these steps:
- From your inbox, swipe right to access the Mailboxes screen.
- Scroll down to the appropriate mail account if you have more than one set up.
- Tap the Archive folder to open it.
How to find archived emails in Gmail
If you use Gmail instead of Apple Mail, the process for archiving emails is slightly different.
⚠️ Gmail does not have a dedicated Archive folder. To find archived emails in Gmail, you need to search the All Mail folder. They are simply removed from the Inbox but remain in your account.
- Open the Gmail app on your iPhone.
- Tap the menu icon (☰) in the top-left corner.
- Scroll down and select All Mail.
📌 You can also type in:archive into the search bar and hit Enter. This will display all your archived emails, but sometimes the feature doesn't work properly and also shows non-archived emails that are still in your inbox.
How to find archived emails in Clean Email
While Gmail lacks a dedicated Archive folder, Clean Email provides one by default, making it much easier to locate archived messages.
➡️ Try Clean Email on your iPhone for free to access advanced features that help you archive, declutter, and keep your inbox organized.
To find archived emails:
- Open the Clean Email app and log in.
- In the left-hand menu, select Archive under Mailbox.
- Browse or search through archived messages with filters like date, sender, or unread status.
How to find archived emails in Outlook
Like Gmail and Mail, Outlook also lets you search for archived messages. To locate its iPhone email Archive folder, follow these steps:
- Tap your profile icon in the top-left corner.
- Select the appropriate mail account if you have more than one.
- Tap the Archive folder.
How to Retrieve Archived Emails on iPhone
If you've archived a message and you want to put it back into your Inbox, where it's a little easier to find later, you can retrieve it from the Archive folder. To do this, follow the steps above to locate and open the message you want to retrieve, then follow these steps:
Retrieve archived emails in Mail
- Tap Mailboxes in the top-left corner to view all folders.
- Scroll down and select the Archive folder for the relevant account or go to All Archive.
- Long-press or open the email you want to move.
- Tap the Folder icon (Move message…).
- Select Inbox (or another folder) to move the message back.
Retrieve archived emails in Gmail
- Go to All Mail and find the email you want to retrieve.
- Open or select the message.
- Tap the options button (three dots in the top-right corner).
- Select Move to Inbox.
📌 Note: Searching for archived emails in Gmail’s All Mail folder isn’t always ideal. Since Gmail doesn’t have a dedicated Archive folder, All Mail contains every message, not only the archived ones, which can make it harder to find what you’re looking for.
Retrieve archived emails in Clean Email
- Go to the Archive folder.
- Swipe left on a chosen message.
- Tap More, then Move, then select Inbox or any other folder.
Retrieve archived emails in Outlook
- Tap the profile icon in the top-left corner.
- Select the email account, then tap the Archive folder.
- Long-press a message or open it and tap three dots.
- Tap the Move icon (folder with an arrow).
- Tap Inbox.
How to Delete Archived Email on iPhone
One of the downsides to archiving emails is that archived email on iPhone still takes up the storage space you've been allocated by your mail provider. While it's great for holding onto important messages, then, it's not ideal for junk and other emails you don't need to keep.
To delete emails from your Archive folder, simply find and open the message using the steps outlined above, then tap the delete button — which looks like a trash can. To delete multiple archived emails at once in Apple Mail and Outlook, follow these steps:
- Go to Archive or All Archive folder.
- Tap Select at the top.
- Select the emails you want to delete or tap Select All.
- Tap Trash to delete the selected emails.
⚠️ Note: Gmail does not have a dedicated Archive folder, so you cannot simply select all archived messages at once, like in Mail or Outlook. To find and delete the archived emails, you need to go to the All Mail folder that includes everything from Inbox to Sent and Archived, so you must manually pick out the archived emails you want to delete.
How to delete archived emails in Clean Email on iPhone
- Open the Archive folder.
- Tap Select and choose messages, or tap Select All, then choose Trash or More → Delete.
- Confirm the action to remove them.
Email Archiving Software for iOS 18
To simplify archiving on iPhone, consider using a third-party tool. The best email archiving solutions, such as Clean Email or Superhuman, also include an automated archiving feature, which takes care of archiving automatically so you never have to worry about it.
When choosing archiving software, look for one that supports your mail provider, respects your privacy, and works across multiple accounts if needed.
Use Clean Email to Automate iPhone Mail Archive Tasks
Clean Email is one of the best email archiving solutions because it won't read the content of your messages, it works with all mail providers, and it offers a whole host of powerful archiving features designed to suit different email needs — whether you're a casual or power email user.
How to get suggestions of which emails to archive
Clean Email’s Cleaning Suggestions tool analyzes your inbox and recommends emails you can safely archive based on your habits.
To use Cleaning Suggestions:
- Choose Suggestions in the left-side menu.
- Review grouped senders and select Archive next to any suggestion.
How to archive automatically with Auto Clean
Clean Email packs a wonderfully handy feature called Auto Clean, which automates routine email cleaning tasks. You can use it not only to archive old messages automatically, but also to organize emails by folders if you need to.
To automatically archive emails on iPhone:
- Tap Auto Clean in the side menu.
- Tap the + icon or Create Rule.
- Choose conditions like sender or group of senders, age, or label. You can also choose a Smart Folder to archive all related emails automatically.
- Under Apply Action, select Archive.
- Tap Create Rule to save it.
How to automatically delete old archived emails
- Go to Auto Clean and tap + or Create Rule.
- Set the filter to emails in the Archive folder that are older than a chosen time frame.
- Under Apply Action, select Trash or Delete (to discard messages skipping the Trash folder).
- Switch the toggle to apply the rule to existing messages.
- Tap Create Rule to save.
What's more, Clean Email also offers a free trial that allows you to try out its features and find out if it works for you without paying a penny. It's available not only for iOS, but also for Android, macOS, and as a web app, so you can explore its full functionality on any device.
💡 Wondering to know more about archiving tricks in your mail provider? Check out our guides on how to archive Yahoo mail and how to archive and unarchive emails in Gmail.
How to Archive Emails on iPhone - FAQs
Where do archived emails go on iPhone?
Archived emails go to your Archive folder on iPhone, where they're easy to find later. From here, you can send them back to your inbox, or delete them when they're no longer needed.
Can you archive messages on iPhone?
Yes, there are a number of easy ways to archive emails on iPhone. Our helpful guide will show you how the iPhone email archive works in Mail, Gmail, and Outlook.
How do you unarchive email on iPhone?
You can unarchive an email on iPhone by finding the message in the Archive folder, then moving it back to your inbox.
How long do emails stay in archive on iPhone?
Archived emails stay in the Archive folder for as long as you want them, unlike deleted messages, which are usually removed after 30 days. However, you can automate the deletion process using third-party tools like Clean Email.
