VIP Mail Folder missing on iPhone after iOS 17 Update

I was having the same issue on my iPhone and iPad. I deleted my mail account (Gmail) and then re-added the account to each device. When it re-populated, the VIP folder was working correctly again. I hope this helps you, too.

I can confirm this works. The update to iOS 17.1 alone does not fix the problem. Steps to fix

1. Updated to iOS to 17.1
2. Remove all mailboxes
3. Re-add all mailboxes
4. VIP shows correctly (I did not remove any VIP ahead of time)

Wait - Gmail?!? You only deleted/re-added Gmail to fix this on all accts? This problem has been driving me nuts, I tells ya, nuts! I wonder if the capacity to rebuild mailboxes, a la MacOS, would be a strategy. Too bad unavailable on iPad.

I didn’t realize this problem until today when I added a new email as VIP, and every email was added to my VIP folder. I’ve played with settings most of the day and finally did a search. I’m glad that I’m not the only one with this issue. So annoying. I went back and deleted the VIP I added, now no “badges” are showing on VIP folder, even though some individual emails have the yellow star indicator in my mail inbox. Sooooo annoying.

PattyW12 wrote:

I was having the same issue on my iPhone and iPad. I deleted my mail account (Gmail) and then re-added the account to each device. When it re-populated, the VIP folder was working correctly again. I hope this helps you, too.

Tried deleting Gmail from all my devices, unfortunately made no difference.

The only way I have been able to get VIP working was by signing out of all email accounts, iCloud and purchases account. Logging back in just with my iCloud account after resetting networks, then VIP worked.

That is not a a solution for me as I have to have different iCloud and purchases accounts for historical reasons.

If I sign out of my iCloud purchases account, and sign in using the correct account, the issue returns immediately.

So I been having this issue.

At first it put all the emails into vip.

after signing out of everything it fixed only half way by giving me vip but only vip of that day, but at least I did not every ALL MY email in vip.

today I woke up to all my email in vip.

[Edited by Moderator]

I just got the new iPhone 15 17.0.3 Saturday and all was good. Woke up today and all email is in VIP, which I really only have a dozen from that 1 VIP email. (iPad is correct).

What's so annoying is support acts like I'm the only person this has happened to. Told me to see what happens overnight 😬

Just wanted to let everyone know that removing (deleting) and readding my Gmail account fixed the issue for me. I also have iCloud, Yahoo, and Outlook but didn’t have to touch those. It was just the Gmail. If you haven’t tried this, do it. Then you have to close the Mail app and maybe even restart the iPhone before you notice it’s fixed.

I had the same issue All email was in VIP when it should be only 1 address.

As suggested someone here, I deleted gmail, restarted phone and added back account and it was fixed I need to remember to check here first because Apple support had no clue and told me to see if it "fixed itself" overnight

I upgraded to IOS 17.0.3 and I now have the same problem! It was working fine prior to the upgrade and never had that issue before.

I have several mail accounts in my phone. I removed Gmail and then added it back, and now Gmail e-mails don't show up in VIP. I then removed other accounts as well (the ones that showed up in VIP) and added them back. Looks like this fixes it.

The VIP problem in iOS 17.3 is still happening even after I deleted my Gmail and then put it back in on my iPhone 12.

I sincerely hope Apple gets this fixed soon because it’s really a pain to not have my VIP emails