Ever launch the Mail app on your iPhone to find a stuck outbox message that just won’t send — or maybe it did send but for some reason it still shows as not sent? While in some cases you can simply delete it and move on, in others, the Edit button is greyed out and unusable. If that sounds like a problem you’re having, here’s a fix I found: My partner recently had this problem over the weekend. It seems to happen more commonly with emails that have large files attached to them. In her case, it was a video. The sender confirmed they had received the message, yet it still sat in her outbox, uneditable, for several days. After hard restarting the Mail app, rebooting her iPhone, and even turning iCloud Mail on and off again, I finally figured out how to trick the Mail app into letting me delete the stuck message:
How to delete stuck outbox messages on iPhone
- Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to launch Control Center.
- Enable Airplane Mode.
- Now launch the Mail app and access your Outbox where the problem message resides.
- You should now be able to tap the Edit button in the upper right hand corner — if you can’t just hard quit the Mail app in the multitasker and launch it again.
- Tap Trash All in the bottom navigation.
- Confirm your selection in popup menu.
- You should now have an empty outbox.
In some cases, stuck outbox messages on iPhone can apparently consume lots of cellular data (I read a few horror stories in Apple’s support forums when looking for an answer). So if you have any, especially if they show a little loading circle like the one in the image above, I’d suggest clearing them out using the steps above.
wow! easy instructions (that actually worked!!) and nice font & design – brava and thank you!!
I have learned a great deal. I didn’t know what a multi tasked was.. I didn’t know how to quit an app from the multi tasker… I have placed in air plane mode and quit my mail app from multi tasker. I have shut off my phone in air plane mode… Still stuck.. Please help
It worked after the 4th power down non air plane mode
Thank you
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
very helpful!!!!!!!
Thanks, but unfortunately, it didn’t work for me. I ended up deleting my Mail Account and re-adding it….which is much easier than it sounds. In 30 seconds, I was back in business without the ‘stuck’ Outgoing mail.
Yes, I did that the last time, but found this fix easier and focused on the problem at hand.
I know everyone here has said the exact same thing, but Allyson, you’re awesome: it worked! One suggested edit: if your mail app is already open, this fix won’t work. You need to close and relaunch the mail app. Otherwise, the ‘edit’ button remains blocked out.
Monroe- thank you! Best to restart your phone and follow Allyson’s instructions. This worked for me, FINALLY! Thanks to both of you!!
Brilliant! Thank you!
Thank you! I never write comments but this was ruining my life because emails weren’t being sent! Thank you for taking the time to make this post.
Brilliant! How did you even work out that, that’s what would work?! Thank you!
Thank you, thank you, and THANK YOU!!!
I think I love you!!! Thanks so much!!
I was traveling in Israel for three weeks with a movie trying to go out in my outbox and I am expecting an $800 cellular data bill even though I was on a unlimited plan with AT&T. Pray for me!!
???
Yay! Finally, that ever-processing, trying to do something but not, too large of a file email in my outbox is now GONE! Thank you Google & thank you Allyson!!!? #freedom
Work perfectly. Save my life. Thank you!
WOW!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!847394$3&3 I’ve had this problem for MONTHS
Yaaaaassss!!!!
You’re an angel. Worked like a charm. Thanks a tonn… 🙂
Your a legend!@@@@@ thank you so much!!!
Hey it worked! Had a large video message that was stuck since April and couldn’t figure how to get rid of it. Thanks 🙂
What do you do when it’s stuck in outbox but just doesn’t want to send it?
FIRST TIME ever, I am posting a comment. It worked for me as well, after 4 months in my outbox…OMG. I just want to kiss you :).
After many trials i decided to reboot and follow your advice, and the Edit blue bottom was there. Thanks God He sent me in you directions :))…
Thanks, I saw other solutions on line but they ALL fail to mention that you may need to force close the mail app AFTER you are in airplane mode. That was the only way it worked for me!!
What a non-obvious fix. Thanks for figuring it out and for posting it !
Thank “Frank!”
This issue has been bugging me for ages, thanks for the fix?????
Thanks van, it worked out. I wouldn’t think like that, really
Many thanks 🙂
That was great!! Been dealing with this for a month now. Very helpful. Thanks!!
Awesome thank you!!!
Super ! Thanks !
Thanks for the tip. It worked for me after hard reboot on mail screen.
Amazing!!! This totally saved me from pulling any more of my hair out! ☺️?
I tried many times but it s not working. In Outbox, the edit button is never activated. Any support please
Thanks it worked and ended me going crazy over trying to send this – lesson learned! most important was to clear out the apps that I had open and closing mail and going back in allowed me to edit the outbox!! hooray
Thank you… for the hard quit tip!
A giga Thanks!
Brilliant! Thank you so much!
10 Q so much for sharing it. Was really helpful. God bless you.
Actually, this solution did not work for me but I found another that did. A large video file was stuck in my iPhone outbox for about 3 weeks. After trying all the other suggestions, I simply deleted that particular account off of my phone and reinstalled it. All of my emails came back as they were already on the email server. Once the reinstallation was complete, the file that was stuck in the outbox was gone!
Brilliant! Thank you. I was getting super damn annoyed.
Awesome ! This really made my day 🙂
I’ve been living with this stuck email issue for 3 months now until I came across your article. Thank you for taking the time to post a coherent solution.