phantom or ghost email

I had same issue with brand new iPhone 13. One ghost email. Neither Apple Mail nor Gmail would show me the 1 “unread” email when I asked both to filter on such.

Gmail was showing zero unread. Apple was showing 1 unread. However, I think Gmail was lying.

I went to Gmail > Settings > Inbox Type > Unread first

There was an email from 07/17/2020 unread. Even though Gmail wasn’t showing it as unread, Apple detected it.

I marked the 2020 email as read in Gmail, and Apple Mail is now happy and at zero notifications.

2022 off to a decent start :))

I was plagued by this bug for MONTHS.

THIS DEAD-SIMPLE SOLUTION WORKED FOR ME:

Ask Siri to read your unread messages.

First, ensure Siri is active in System Preferences (MacOS) or in Settings (iOS/iPadOS)

Engage Siri (hold down power button on device, or say Hey Siri if this feature is enabled).

Simply tell Siri to "Show me all my unread messages", or "Read my unread messages". Depending on the device and the number of messages, it varies to get Siri to actually read them.

That's it. Once Siri works through all of them, the new unread count will reset to zero, and the badge will finally disappear.

APPLE — FIX THIS SH!TE.

Hello! I’m sure at this point you’ve already figured out a solution, but this was the only post I could find that fit my situation so I wanted to add my resolution for anyone in future who may be looking for answers.

For me, it turned out something had been added to my Gmail calendar. I don’t ever use that calendar and strictly use my iCal so I didn’t even think to check this calendar. But once I finally did check the gmail calendar, there was something on it for today. When I deleted it, the ghost mail notification instantly went away. Like there was somehow a communication breakdown between the gmail calendar alert and my iPhone email app.

Just activated my iPhone 13 and had this issue too. Tried turning off notifications, reinstalled Mail app, did multiple things in mail to get rid of it but nothing worked.

Finally I logged into iCloud.com on my desktop computer. It too said I had 1 unread message, so I filtered by unread AND THERE IT WAS! An email from 11 months ago said it was unread (!?!?!). I marked it as read on the desktop, and now the ghost notification is gone from my phone.

Hoping this can help others..

You can also log in to your email on your desktop/laptop. Type is:unread in the search bar and all the “unread” emails will populate. Select all and click mark as read. Worked like a dream!

Hello Ldc0903!

Based on your post you're having trouble clearing an unread notification in iOS Mail.

You've done a great job isolating the issue thus far. Do you know if the notification appears checking your web-based Gmail account using a browser or using the Gmail application?

Are there any other email accounts configured experiencing the same behavior?

If you navigate to Mail > All Inboxes and tap the unread filter (bottom left) on and off a few times does the issue continue?

Keep us updated.

Cheers!

We appreciate you giving those steps a try. In that case we would recommend reaching out to Apple Support directly to report the issue. You can do so using the support link below.

Get Support

Regards.

This was the ONLY thing that worked!!!! Thank you!!!!

This worked! Thank you! Have been dealing with that niggling notification for months!

YESSSSS THANK YOU!! F I N A L L Y !!!

This guy hit the nail on the head. Most aggravating issue I’ve had!

It actually works! It susprises me. Turns out gmail is the one having trouble here

This worked for me! Thank you so much! I was going nuts with 9 ghost notifications!