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.
Thank you so much!!!
perfect!
I was stuck with this problem for a week! This fix worked like a charm!!! Thank you so much!
Thank you for this. I’ve had one with a very large file that’s been stuck for months and it’s been driving me crazy. This did the trick! I’m very grateful!
Thanks for the tip – it worked! I’ve been dealing with this same video being caught in a loop for weeks now. You’re amazing!
This is great! thank you very much!! simple clear instruction and save my day!
But what if I actually want to send that stuck email?
I hate iPhone’s!!!! Grrrrrrr!!!!!
U are GOD!!!
Super helpful. Thank you.
Thank you so much. I had a large video inside the email. I had to close and relaunch the mail app a couple of times while in airplane mode before it worked. This fix was genius!!!
Extremely helpful ! Thank you so much , Allyson , here from Brazil ! I had already called a professional that couldn’t solve this. As you have perfectly explained, it ‘s essncial to close the mail app while on plane mode and relaunch it! Knowledge is power …
Ligia Kogos
Brilliant ! So wonderful to have clever iphone users helping people with problems. Eve
Well, even all of the above efforts didn’t work for me. I finally went into settings, turned on airplane mode, turned off wi-fi and turned off cellular data. THEN, when I went into the mail app (after having already closed it), the edit function (it was blue) would not let me delete the mail, BUT swiping did it!!! Hurrah…hope that may help others.
You are a complete legend! I have been trying to fix this for a week because it kept shutting down my email while it was trying to resend this email that was stuck and I couldn’t delete it any other way. Thank you so much!!!
Oh, that was a big help. Every email with an attachment I’d sent for the last three days were backed up behind that one that had already sent but appeared to be spinning. I was already dreading the hour I’d have to spend on the phone with Apple when I came across this post.
Thank you so much. It worked exactly as u said
Thank you very much, I was pulling my hair out, had to close the app and re open then job done.
A+++++! I just added you to my favourites page~~ and I didn’t even have a favourites page ’til now.
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Thank You, Smarty!
Worked like a charm. Thanks!
This was very helpful. I’ve had this problem many times in the past and tried all the other recommended solutions. I thought the only solution after everything else failed, or turned up unsuccessful, was to completely delete the whole email account in outlook and restart the email all over again. This solution did work and now I know for the future. I’ll definitely pass it on to someone who runs into the same problem. Thank you.
Allyson:
You have saved my wife a huge amount of aggravation and a trip to the “Genius Bar” 5 days out! Thank You!!!!!
Thanks so much, I put on aeroplane mode from the bottom screen but didn’t work, but after turning the phone off and on again it enabled me to edit and I could delete the problem email that had been rolling around for a week! Love your stuff
Thank you so much!
Thank You, Thank You, THANK YOU!!!
Thank you!
iPhone 6SE has about 25 old, previously-sent emails that won’t clear out of the Outbox. I’ve never seen this one before.
Wouldn’t work for me, the edit button stayed greyed out no matter what I did.
After you go into airplane mode, you will need to double click the home button, then quit the mail app. Then restart the mail app. It will now be available for delete.
Awesome. Worked for me. I first tried to turn of cellular data and wireless connection but that wasn’t even enough. I tried to go online through my pc but I couldn’t even find the outbox. I then found this thread. Thanks for ending my frustration.
Thank you!!!!
Thank you!!What a lifesaver!!!
Many thanks
-it was worth trying and it did work evetually – about 5th attempt !!
It worked and my Stress has been lifted since the stuck mail was restricting new mails being sent and using up Battery .
It does work but it may take a few attempts
thank youuuuuuuuu, just erased a mail stucked for like a month…
Nothing works for me – I’ve tried everything listed here before I even looked for solutions – the little wheel keeps spinning even after the airplane mode is on – I rebooted and closed all apps – nothing !!!! Anyone else with same issue found a solution?
Awesome it worked!!
Thank you so much Allyson! Not sure how you figured out that trick but you are one sharp cookie!!
Thanks!! This has been driving me crazy for a week and just found your fix and it worked
So nothing was working until I did it in this order:
1. Go to mail account setting and turn off mail.
2. Turn on airplane mode
3. Go to Mail and then you should be able to clear stuck message by sending to trash.
4. Turn airplane mode off
5. Turn mail back on in account settings
This worked for me thank you. The above method did not!
This was the only solution that worked for me. THANKS!
Thank you!!! I had a large video file stuck in the outbox since Christmas, the wheel always turning. Note that the first time I tried it didn’t work, the edit was still grey so pressing on it didn’t do anything. Then I shut off the phone completely and tried it again and it worked.
Thanks!! It took me a sec to understand closing the multitasking windows, but once I did, the edit button displayed and I could put that pesky file in the trash!