How to see all your unread emails in one spot on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Learn how to add a convenient Unread folder to the Apple Mail app on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac to display all your unopened emails in one handy place.

Unread emails in Mail app on iPhone

Apple’s Mail app for the iPhone and iPad offers various customization options that allow you to adjust what messages you see first in the mailbox list. For instance, you can add important people to Mail’s VIP list so all their messages appear in the special VIP smart mailbox.

I’m not sure why, but Mail, by default, doesn’t let you see all the unread messages from all accounts in one place, and that’s quite a shame.

Thankfully, you can easily show a hidden ‘Unread’ smart folder to gather your unread messages in one place.

Enable ‘Unread’ smart mailbox in the Mail app

We have covered the steps for both iOS and macOS.

On iPhone and iPad

  1. Open Mail on your iOS device.
  2. Tap Mailboxes from the top left of the Inbox screen to get to the Mailboxes screen.
  3. Now, hit the Edit button.
  4. Mail will show you a list of its built-in mailboxes. Scroll down and tap Unread to enable the smart mailbox with unread messages.
  5. Lastly, tap Done to save the new changes.
Tap Edit and select Unread in Mail app on iPhone

All the unread messages from all your accounts will be automatically gathered inside the Unread inbox as they arrive. As each message in the Unread mailbox is read, Mail will automatically remove it from the list.

Seeing all unread emails in iOS Mail app

Extra info: While in edit mode, you can reorder your mailboxes by dragging them around. I suggest moving the Unread mailbox to the top of the list so it’s easier to access without having to scroll through the mailbox list.

Tip: If you want to find all unread messages from people in your VIP list, type “unread vip” in Mail’s search box.

On Mac

Like the iPhone, you can create a Smart Mailbox in the Apple Mail app on your Mac that will show all the unread emails. We have a full tutorial explaining how to use Smart Mailboxes on Mac. To sum up:

  1. Open the Mail app, and from the top menu bar, click Mailboxes > New Smart Mailbox.
  2. Give it a suitable name, like Unread.
  3. Click the first dropdown menu and set it to Message is unread.
  4. Hit OK to save it.
See all unread emails in Smart Mailbox on Mac

You will now see this Smart Mailbox in the left sidebar of the Mail app. Click it to see all your unread emails in one convenient spot.

Do more in Mail: