How to change Archive to Trash in iPhone Mail

Why iPhone Mail archives instead of deleting

Gmail was built around archiving: you clear the inbox but keep everything searchable. When you add a Gmail account to the iPhone Mail app, Apple follows that idea. Swiping left or tapping the box icon moves the message to All Mail instead of Trash. Many people only notice when their Google storage fills up with emails they thought were deleted.

How to change archive to trash on iPhone Mail, step by step

1. Open Settings. In iOS 18 and later, scroll down and tap Apps, then Mail. In older versions, tap Mail directly or Passwords & Accounts.
2. Tap Mail Accounts and choose the Gmail account.
3. Tap the Account row with your email address at the top.
4. Scroll down and tap Advanced.
5. Under Move Discarded Messages Into, tap Deleted Mailbox instead of Archive Mailbox.
6. Tap the back arrow, then Done to save.

Open Mail again. The box icon at the bottom is now a trash can, and swiping left shows Trash.

Do it for each account

The setting is per account. If you have a work Gmail, a personal Gmail and a school account, change each one separately. iCloud, Outlook and Yahoo accounts usually delete to Trash by default, but some show the same Advanced option. If swiping still archives in one inbox, check that account.

Delete once without changing settings

If you usually like archiving but want to delete one message, touch and hold the Archive button at the bottom of an open email. A menu appears with Trash Message. You can also touch and hold the email in the list and choose Trash Message from the menu. A long swipe left on the email may also offer a More option with Trash.

Change the swipe actions

Go to Settings › Apps › Mail › Swipe Options. You can set Swipe Left and Swipe Right to Mark as Read, Flag, Move Message or Archive. The archive or trash choice itself comes from the account setting above, so change that first.

Turn on Ask Before Deleting

Once swiping deletes, it is easy to remove something by accident. In Settings › Apps › Mail, turn on Ask Before Deleting. Mail then asks you to confirm before trashing a message. You can also shake the iPhone right after deleting and tap Undo, if Shake to Undo is on in Accessibility settings.

Archive, Trash and delete forever

• Archive: the email leaves the inbox and sits in All Mail. It still counts toward storage and shows in searches.
• Trash: Gmail keeps it in Trash for 30 days, then deletes it for good.
• Delete forever: empty Trash in the Gmail app or at gmail.com. In iPhone Mail, open the Trash folder, tap Edit and choose Delete All.

The Trash setting under Advanced may also show Remove with options like Never, After one day or After one week. That controls when Mail empties the deleted mailbox on the iPhone.

Check Gmail's own IMAP setting

Gmail has a setting that decides what happens when an IMAP app like iPhone Mail deletes a message. On a computer, open gmail.com, click the gear, then See all settings › Forwarding and POP/IMAP. Under When a message is marked as deleted and expunged from the last visible IMAP folder, choose Move the message to the Trash. If this is set to Archive, Gmail may keep archiving even after you change the iPhone setting.

Find and recover archived emails

In Mail, tap Mailboxes at the top left, then under your Gmail account tap All Mail. Everything you archived is there. To move a message back, open it, tap the folder icon and choose Inbox.

Clear old archived mail to free space

Changing the setting only affects new deletes. Emails you archived before are still in All Mail. To remove them in bulk, use Gmail in a browser, where you can select thousands at once. Our guide to deleting all emails from one sender in Gmail shows how to search and remove them.

Setting is missing or does not stick

• If there is no Advanced option, the account may be added as Exchange or through a profile from work or school. Those accounts follow the server's rules.
• Remove the account from Mail Accounts and add it again, then change the setting before you open Mail.
• Update iOS. Some older versions saved the change only after you tapped Done on the account screen.
• If you use the Gmail app instead, see the Gmail app steps above, since iPhone settings do not affect it.

For Gmail problems beyond this setting, such as mail not syncing, see Gmail not working on iPhone.

Should you archive or delete?

Archiving is not wrong. It is useful for receipts, travel bookings, work threads and anything you may need to search later. The trade off is storage. Google gives 15 GB free, shared between Gmail, Drive and Photos, and years of archived mail with attachments can fill it. A good rule: archive what you might need, delete newsletters, promotions and notifications. If you mostly deal with junk, switching the default to Trash saves time and space.

Delete several emails at once

In the Mail inbox, tap Edit at the top right, tap each email you want to remove, then tap Trash at the bottom. If the button says Archive, touch and hold it to get the Trash option. After you change the account setting, the button says Trash by default.

Other mail apps on iPhone

• Gmail app: the default swipe is Archive. Change it in Settings › Inbox customizations › Mail swipe actions. The archive or delete button at the top of an open email can be changed under Settings › Default notification action on some versions.
• Outlook app: tap your profile picture, then the gear, then Swipe options, and set a swipe to Delete.
• Yahoo Mail app: open settings and look for Swipe actions.

On Mac and iPad

The iPad has the same Advanced setting as the iPhone. On a Mac, open Mail, go to Mail › Settings › Accounts, select the Gmail account and open Mailbox Behaviors. Set the Trash mailbox and choose whether to move deleted messages there. Each device has its own setting, so change them all if you use several.

Once Trash is the default, a quick swipe keeps your inbox and your Google storage clean, without the hidden pile in All Mail.

Undo a delete you did not mean

Right after deleting an email, shake the iPhone and tap Undo, or swipe left with three fingers. If the moment has passed, open Mailboxes, tap the account's Trash (or Bin) folder, open the email, tap the folder icon and move it back to Inbox. Gmail keeps trashed messages for 30 days, so you have time. After that, or after you empty Trash, the email is gone for good and Google cannot restore it for personal accounts.

Does this change Gmail on my computer?

No. The iPhone setting only controls what the Mail app on that iPhone does. Gmail on a computer keeps its own archive and delete buttons. Emails you delete on the iPhone still show up in Trash on gmail.com, since both read the same account.

Summary

iPhone Mail archives Gmail messages because that is how Gmail is designed. One setting per account, Move Discarded Messages Into › Deleted Mailbox, switches it to Trash. Check Gmail's IMAP setting on the web if archiving continues, use touch and hold for one off deletes, and empty Trash or clean All Mail when you need to free Google storage. The change takes a minute and saves you from a hidden pile of archived mail filling your account over the years.