The Reply button in the iPhone version of Apple Mail does a whole lot more than let you reply to messages. For some reason, Apple packed it with unrelated options.
Here’s everything lying hidden behind that simple button.
Seek and you shall find
You might think you know everything the Reply button does: Tap on it to reply to a message. (Duh.) Turns out that’s only the start, though. To see more options in the iPhone version of Apple Mail, open a message and then tap the Reply button. You’ll get a pop-up window with the basic options: Reply, Reply All and Forward.
Now scroll that window upward and a whole realm of new options appear. Experts might be aware that some of these are accessible elsewhere in the Mail app, but average users might be surprised they’re available at all.
Secrets of the Apple Mail Reply button
Here are the options as they appear in iOS 17:
Archive Message: Moves the message into your Mail archive.
Remind Me: Let’s you set a date and time to be reminded of this email. This proves handy if you’re busy now but really don’t want to forget a message.
Flag: Puts a flag next to the message in your inbox to draw attention to it.
Mark as Unread: Some people use this as another way to be reminded of messages.
Move Message…: Relocate the email to another folder.
Move to “Important”: Some people keep a Mail folder with this name so they don’t lose track of critical messages.
Trash Message: Say goodbye!
Move to Junk: Not the same a trashing a message — this also labels the email as junk mail and casts suspicion on all future emails from this source.
Notify Me: Sets the Apple Mail app to send you an alert if anyone replies to this message.
Mute: Makes it so you stop receiving notifications of replies to this particular message.
Print: Printers are still a thing, and you can make a paper copy of each email if you want.
Block Sender: This option lets you banish spammers or that irritating ex who won’t stop emailing.
Now that you know everything the Reply button can do, the iPhone version of Apple Mail probably just got more useful to you.
