How to Recover Deleted Emails on iPhone: 6 Proven Methods

Accidentally deleted some important emails on your iPhone? Whether it disappeared seconds ago or several days ago, there are several ways to recover them. This guide walks you through every working method in 2025 to recover deleted emails on iPhone.

Part 1. Recover Deleted Emails From the Mail App on iPhone

Method 1. Instantly Undo a Deleted Email on iPhone

iPhone has a built-in Undo feature that lets you recover a deleted email in seconds.

Steps

1. Shake your iPhone immediately after deleting the message.

2. An Undo Delete popup appears.

3. Tap Undo to restore the email to its original folder.

This method works only if you haven't closed the Mail app after deleting the message. It also won't reverse deletions made inside the Trash folder, since actions taken there are treated as permanent.

Method 2. Restore Deleted Emails From the Trash Folder

When you delete an email in the Mail app, it usually moves to the Trash folder. It stays there until your email provider permanently deletes it, which typically happens between 1 and 30 days, depending on the service.

Steps

1. Go to Mail App on your iPhone

2. Tap the upper-left corner until you reach the main Mailboxes screen.

3. Select Trash and locate the email you want to recover.

4. Open the email, tap the folder icon, then choose Inbox (or any folder you prefer). Moving it out of Trash restores it.

If the email has already been erased from Trash, check Part 2: Recover Deleted Emails From Third-Party Services on iPhone

If your emails vanished even though you didn't change anything, check this guide: Emails Disappearing from iPhone? 10 Easy Ways to Get Them Back for possible causes and fixes.

Method 3. Recover Emails Using iCloud Mail on the Web

When you delete an email on your iPhone, the Mail app normally syncs that action to iCloud within seconds. If you cut the internet right away, the deletion can't reach the server, which means the message may still be sitting safely in iCloud Mail. It's basically catching the system mid-blink and grabbing your email before the sync finishes.

Before You Start

Turn off every network connection on your iPhone immediately after deleting the message. That includes Wi-Fi, mobile data, Personal Hotspot, all of it. This stops the deletion from syncing.

Steps

1. On a computer or tablet, open a browser and go to iCloud.com.

2. Sign in with your Apple ID.

3. Open Mail.

4. Check your folders and move the missing messages back to the Inbox or any folder you prefer.

Note: Use a tablet or computer. iCloud Mail may not display all features on phone browsers.

Method 4. Check Archive When Deleted Emails Don't Appear in Trash

Sometimes deleting an email on iPhone doesn't actually delete it. A quick left-swipe might send the message to Archive instead of Trash, which makes it look like the email vanished for no reason. If your Trash folder is empty, checking Archive is the next logical step.

Steps

1. Open the Mail app.

2. Select the email account you want to check.

3. Tap the All Mail folder (or Archive, depending on your account settings).

4. If you find the missing message, tap the folder icon and move it back to Inbox.

Part 2. Recover Deleted Emails From Third-Party Services on iPhone

Method 5. Restore Emails With Gbyte Recovery on iPhone.

Gbyte Recovery is one of the few iPhone data recovery tools that actually works for Mail retrieval. It runs directly in a mobile browser, and its desktop version delivers faster scanning and stronger stability. If your deleted emails are not in Trash, Archive, or iCloud Mail, this may be the only practical option left.

Key Features

• Free Scan & Preview: See which emails can be recovered without paying anything.

• Supports Multiple Data Types: Mail, WhatsApp, LINE, Snapchat, Messages, photos, videos, and more.

• Selective Recovery: Restore only the emails you lost instead of re-downloading everything.

• No Cable Required: Connect through secure Apple ID login.

Steps

1. Open Gbyte Recovery (Free Scan available).

2. Select Mail as your target data type and start the scan.

3. Sign in with your Apple ID to connect your iPhone and Mail data.

4. When the scan finishes, preview the results and save only the items you want.

Gbyte Recovery can also scan for deleted photos, messages, contacts, and other data in one session. You can select multiple file types and recover everything at once.

Method 6. Restore Emails Through Your Email Provider’s App

If you use Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail, or another email provider’s app instead of Apple Mail, the recovery process works a little differently. Still, most providers follow the same pattern: check the Trash/Bin folder first, then check the provider’s server-side “recoverable items” if the message is no longer in Trash.

Gmail

1. Open the Gmail app or go to mail.google.com.

2. Tap the menu icon and open Bin.

3. Select the email > tap Move > choose Inbox.

If the email isn’t in Bin, try Google’s official recovery tool: Google Mail Recovery

Part 3. Recover Emails Using Backups — Does It Really Work?

Restoring from a backup is usually the last thing people try, and for good reason. It’s slow, it overwrites your device, and most email accounts don’t even store messages inside the backup. Still, it can help in a few specific situations.

iCloud Backup Does Not Include iCloud Mail

If your email address ends in @icloud.com, @me.com, or @mac.com, your messages are stored on Apple’s servers.

iCloud Backup does not include them, so restoring your device will not bring them back.

When a Device Backup Can Restore Mail

A backup can help only if:

• Your email account is not iCloud Mail, and

• Your provider uses POP (rare today) or

• You downloaded messages for offline storage using an app or setup that stored copies locally.

For most modern IMAP accounts (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, etc.), messages stay on the server. Restoring a backup won’t recover deleted mail unless the provider still has a server-side copy.

Part 4. Conclusion

Recovering deleted emails on an iPhone is possible, but the right method depends on how and where the message was deleted. Start with the simplest options: use Undo immediately after deleting, check the Trash or Archive folders, and make sure your actions haven’t already synced across devices. If the message hasn’t yet synced to the server, iCloud Mail on the web can sometimes save it.

When emails are erased from the Trash, your best options are your provider’s own recovery services or a dedicated data recovery service like Gbyte Recovery, which can scan for deleted items beyond what Mail or your provider can display.

Backups help only in limited cases, especially since most email accounts store messages on the server rather than on your device.

No matter which method you use, acting quickly gives you the best chance to bring your missing emails back.