In Mail for iOS/iPad OS I'm able to multi-select individual emails, long press them, and Block Sender from the action menu. If I select those same emails via Select All, long pressing them doesn't expose the action menu. Is this a bug or by design? If by design, what's the thinking behind this counter intuitive behavior?
iPad Pro, iPadOS 17
While Select All doesn't allow what you are attempting to achieve, there are other methods to rapidly select multiple mail messages...
If required, start by searching the mailbox by Sender or suitable keyword - and/or combining with a filtered view in the Mail App sidebar:
Flag and filter emails on iPad - Apple Support
Next, either tap the Edit button at top-right of the Mail sidebar - or tap with two fingers within the sidebar; simply swipe your finger down (or up) the left-side of the message list to bulk select Mail Messages. Swipe below the bottom edge to rapidly select all the visible email messages.
Once bulk-selected, a long-touch will access the Action Menu.
While it is possible to group-select multiple email messages - and then access the Action Menu (that includes Block Sender) with a long-touch - you won't see the same Action Menu when using Select All.
While complete speculation on my part, I might reasonably speculate that the ability to access Block Sender and some other functions when using Select All is a deliberate safety measure - as you might otherwise perform a potentially unwanted and irreversible action for an entire mailbox...
You're very welcome.
Workaround, no. Established functionality, yes 🙂
You're probably right but that's unfortunate. Junk email is such a hassle and users trying to address it shouldn't be hamstrung with system constraints making it even more of a hassle. It's silly to think that if I wish to block all senders of emails in my Junk folder that I should have to select them one at a time on the off chance I might be including an email that shouldn't have been flagged as Junk. Hopefully Apple changes this in a future release.
I was unaware of the ability to swipe to rapidly select all visible messages. That's a great workaround, thanks!
Mail for iOS/iPad OS multiple sender blocking
