Phantom unread emails: Mail shows 5 unread messages, but there are none...

This worked for me, too, to eliminate the phantom notifications message on my iPad2 IOS5. Thank you!

BTW, it was only my Outlook mail that had the issue, not gmail...does this help with the bug fix?

Cheers!

Thx Kats,

I have an iPhone 5 with all the updates.

I have 4 email accounts.

1.Gmail

2.Corporate Microsoft Exchange 2010 account

3.Two Microsoft O365 (cloud based Exchange Server)

And you are correct that it only happens on the Exchange / Outlook accounts.

Since it is happening on at least 2 independent servers I am guessing The Apple devices are not communicating properly with the Microsoft servers...but I guess Apple and Microsoft have always had communication problems. :)

I believe the bug is related to Outlook junkmail; I figured out that the exact number of junk emails in my Outlook junkmail folder (auto-assigned as such) was the same number of phantom unread emails. Outlook bug seems to be related to accessing the junkmail folder, I think...I tried to open the junkmail folder on my iPhone 4s without luck.

Go to Settings / Mail

Choose the mail account with the issue

Turn mail Off and let it unload for a minute

Turn mail back On and those unreads should be gone

This seems to be a brand-aid for one of my users - not a fix. I have a user who continues to have this issue. The band-aid works each time, but it's getting old.

Mine happens on a hotmail account.

Worked like a charm. Thanks!

Joey C, you rock.

This was driving me nuts.

Thanks so much for posting it.

For the record, this issue popped up on me immediately following an update to IOS 6.1.

OMG! THANK YOU componentgeek! THIS SOLVED MY PROBLEM!!!!! The unread mail badge on my iPhone 5 has been driving me insane. I've killed my exchange email account again and again, a colossal waste of time, but it would clear the badge. Turning the mail off, then back on is SO MUCH SIMPLER! Genius. Thanks! Now, Apple---FIX THE PROBLEM FROM HAPPENING!

Hey componentgeek,

such a simple solution, but it WORKED on my iPhone 4s. The email badge is now reset to zero! Thank you for taking the time to post your solution.

That did it for me! At first I thought it didn't because the badge did not vanish right away, but after it finished resyncing all the mail a few moments later it fixed it. THANKS!

OMG thanks Joey C... It actually works! Those 10 phatom emails were driving me crazy!

Thanks for the help

This has been a saga going on long enough - APPLE - get it fixed

Well done Joey C.

I had the phantom emails on my iphone 4 and your method was spot on an getting rid om my Phantom emails.

Thanks Champ.

Everyone,

This is only a temporary fix. I've got a bug report filed with Apple. If more people would report the issue then we probably could get a permanent fix. They had the same problem in iOS 5 and they sent me a special update.

Report issued here http://radar.apple.com