Top 22 iPhone Tips

E-Mail Tips

Let's look at some ways to make better use of your iPhone e-mail.

Avoid Mail Confusion

Don't give two e-mail accounts the same name, because Mail will get confused and copy the settings from one account to the other. And you can't fix the situation by simply renaming one account; you'll need to delete one of the accounts and then re-create it.

Mark Read Messages as Unread

There doesn't appear to be any way to mark read messages as unread on the iPhone -- but there is. While viewing a message, tap on Details, which reveals a Mark As Unread option; tap on it, and the next time you view your inbox, the message will display a blue dot, which indicates that the message has not been read.

Recover "Lost" E-Mails

If you try to send an e-mail but the iPhone can't get network access, you might think your message has disappeared completely. But don't worry: a temporary Outgoing folder is created to hold the message. You can access this folder from the main screen of the sending account; the folder will disappear once network access is available and the message is sent.

Create E-Mail Folders

Well, actually, you can't create e-mail folders on the iPhone. But what you can do with an IMAP e-mail account is create folders on the IMAP server -- for example, if you have a .Mac account, using the .Mac Web -- mail interface. Those folders will then appear on the iPhone, and their contents will -- eventually -- be synced between the iPhone and the server.

Save E-Mail Drafts

If you want to save a message you're working on so you can come back to it later, tap on Cancel. Instead of deleting the message immediately, Mail pops up a dialog box with the options Save, Don't Save, or Cancel. Tap on Save and the message will be placed in your Drafts folder. (If your account doesn't currently have a Drafts folder, Mail will create one.) Don't be alarmed if the message doesn't appear in Drafts immediately, however; it sometimes takes several minutes for the draft message to show up.