Emails still in inbox on iphone after deleting on other devices since IOS 18 update

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Level 1

6 points

Emails still in inbox on iphone after deleting on other devices since IOS 18 update

I have an iphone SE and have 5 email accounts using the 'mail' app. Since the IOS 18 update, when I delete an email on another device, be it my PC, Ipad etc, it still shows in my 'Inbox' AND in Deleted items' at the same time on my iphone, so doesnt delete it from the iphone inbox.

This applies to all the email accounts which are all imap, one is an 'Exchange' account but the problem is exactly the same for all accounts.

I've tried deleting two of the email accounts and setting them up again but it hasn't fixed the problem. I've looked through all the email settings on the iphone but can't see anything out of sorts.

Email if fine on my ipad...which is not updated to IOS 18.

If I delete a 'Sent Items' email on another device it does delete it on my iphone so that is OK.

If I 'Read' an email in the 'Inbox' of another device, it does show it as 'Read' on my iphone so that's OK.

If I actually delete an email on the iphone itself it does delete and stay deleted.

Anyone have a fix for this?

Or maybe Apple will do an update as there seems to be quite a number of email problems after the IOS 18 update.

iPhone SE, iOS 18

Posted on Dec 8, 2024 2:53 AM

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Answer 1

DoaDe

Level 1

19 points

Dec 8, 2024 3:27 AM in response to BeatleMan71

This issue appears to be related to how the iOS 18 Mail app synchronizes IMAP and Exchange email accounts. The fact that your emails remain in the inbox despite being deleted on other devices suggests a syncing bug??

You can check the Fetch/Push Settings.

Go to Settings > Mail > Accounts and select each email account. Ensure they are set to Push or Fetch appropriately.

For IMAP accounts, Push is ideal if supported. If unavailable, set Fetch to a reasonable interval like 15 mins.

For Exchange accounts, ensure Push is enabled.

Hope this helps!

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Answer 2

DoaDe

Level 1

19 points

Dec 8, 2024 4:36 AM in response to BeatleMan71

Sorry to hear that!

You can check the IMAP folders on the iPhone match those on your email server:

Log in to your email account via a web browser.

Look at the folder structure (Inbox, Trash, Sent Items).

Compare this with your iPhone settings:

Go to Settings > Mail > Accounts > Your Account > Advanced Settings.

Ensure that Deleted Mailbox points to the correct folder on the server.

Hope this helps..

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Answer 3

BeatleMan71 Author

Level 1

6 points

Dec 8, 2024 8:56 AM in response to DoaDe

Thanks Again, checked that and all looks OK there, but....

what I did try was deleting an email from the Inbox on my ipad (old one running IOS 15.8.3, but email works fine on that) then on my iphone it was showing still in the Inbox and the Bin as well simultaneously, so then deleted it from the Inbox thinking it would then maybe show two copies in the Bin...but no, on deleting it from the Inbox it deleted it from the Bin at the same time.

So then I did the same again but this time deleting the duplicate email in the Bin first, then deleting the duplicate email from the Inbox thinking it would then show in the Bin...but no, it just deleted from the Inbox and didn't show up in the Bin at all.

So there's obviously some sync issue that started with the IOS 18 update but I'm stumped as to why or fix / work around. I guess for now I'll just have to delete unwanted emails (of which I get loads!) on my iphone as it does work that way around...if I delete an email on my iphone it does delete on all my other devices.

Thanks again for your help.

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Answer 4

BeatleMan71 Author

Level 1

6 points

Dec 8, 2024 3:49 AM in response to DoaDe

Thanks for the reply...I've just checked all the setting again and all were as you suggested, then turned off and restarted the phone but situation still the same. I was swipping down on the email app to refresh as well but still no joy.

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