How can I disable icons in the Mail app on iOS 18.3?

You have the option to make the mail look exactly as it did before the update.

• For sorting, open the Mail app, tap the circle with three dots in it and tap List View
• For the icons, open the Settings App, scan all the way down the page to Apps, tap that then look for Mail and tap that. Turn off Show Contact Photos.

Your mail will now look exactly as it did.

Thank you for the quick and easy to understand response! I really appreciate it!!! Apple should show you what an update would look like and then you select if you want update to the look of the new version or stay with the old. I shouldn’t have these changes automatically made and then have to research how to get it back. But definitely appreciate having the option to get it back.

Hey there,

I understand your concern regarding the new icons in the Mail app on iOS 18.3, which are affecting your email preview visibility. To revert to a cleaner, more traditional list view without these icons, please follow these steps:

To Disable Contact Photos in Mail:

• Go to Settings > Mail > In the Message List section, toggle off Show Contact Photos.

This action will remove the icons next to each email, providing a more streamlined list view.

Note: this user to user forum not official Apple support , In case you want to provide feedback to Apple tap here ☞ Product Feedback - Apple

I had never mind updates for the Mail client ever since I used an iPhone from the 3G days, but 18.3 is the absolute worst Apple has ever done with a design language that complete deviates from its principle thus making it irrelevant to the layout of the desktop Mail client, and of course its previous iOS counter part.

I had managed to revert it back to list view with no icons, but opinion should be heard, if not, one day we will wake up and that will be the permeant change without the option to change back. Please stop making erratic design choices to make it looks like "the other guy", there is a reason why we choose Apple.

Thank you - what a relief!

Don’t worry! I worked it out. I had to open at least one message after the updated and then it reverted.

Apple please stop forcing these updates on us. You just ruined my whole morning trying to work this out. Where is your UX focus??

Omg, thank you!!! Those mail icons are horrible 😱

Thanks.

it’s a mess though like most updates are. They’ve decided to only show us what they think are the emails we want to see most unless you make the change. So for half a day I was missing a load of work emails.

if it isn’t broken don’t fix it is a decent line to work along

Couldn't agree more! Thank you to all who showed us where to go to turn off all these annoying add-ons!! Here's a plea to Apple not to automatically change everything with each upgrade, but to somehow show us the options that we can choose if we want to. One of the most aggravating 'changes' was the intuitive answers given by my iphone when i came to answering an email. it took a long wait on the phone to get to an Apple support person who then told me where to turn that off. (I'd already spent an hour trying to find it myself!)

Same here- I am a senior that needs to see my screen. With these icons all the email is truncated! Made mail functionally difficult to read and use. Switch it back, please!!!!

dmitriypopov wrote:

I had never mind updates for the Mail client ever since I used an iPhone from the 3G days, but 18.3 is the absolute worst Apple has ever done with a design language that complete deviates from its principle thus making it irrelevant to the layout of the desktop Mail client, and of course its previous iOS counter part.

I had managed to revert it back to list view with no icons, but opinion should be heard, if not, one day we will wake up and that will be the permeant change without the option to change back. Please stop making erratic design choices to make it looks like "the other guy", there is a reason why we choose Apple.

If you want your opinion heard, it won't be heard here on this user to user only forum, which Apple does not read for user feedback. Use this link to share your thoughts with Apple if you want --> Feedback - iPhone - Apple

Plshelptheoldies wrote:

Don’t worry! I worked it out. I had to open at least one message after the updated and then it reverted.

Apple please stop forcing these updates on us. You just ruined my whole morning trying to work this out. Where is your UX focus??

I'm glad you got it sorted, but just so you know, you aren't speaking with anyone from Apple here. This is a user to user only forum, and I along with anyone else is a user like you. We just volunteer our time to try to help people. We certainly didn't ruin your morning 😉

A couple words of advice, since you own an iPhone.

1. When an update is available, on the update page are release notes. Read them before you do the update, which lets you know the new features.
2. If you come across a feature which changes things a lot, look around the internet at sources like 9to5 Mac, which always posts useful articles about the new features and the things you can do with them.

Before I updated my iPhone, I was well aware of the new Mail App features and how to get things back to list view if I wanted to not use the Categories.

As many people as possible should notify Apple if they are unhappy with the change.

Thank you SO much for this…my ancient eyes couldn’t cope with the amount of screen taken up!