How to delete an email account on iPhone—the complete guide

Juggling too many email profiles? It’s time to declutter your inbox—learn how to delete an email account on your iPhone in our step-by-step guide.
Apple Mail can be useful if you have multiple private and work email accounts because it lets you manage all of them in one place. Once you stop using some of those profiles, you can declutter your inbox by removing the email accounts from your iPhone. Otherwise, your Mail app can become difficult to manage.This detailed tutorial will teach you how to delete an email account on an iPhone easily. You can do this from:
  1. The iPhone Settings
  2. The email service app
  3. The Safari browser
Secure all data before deleting your accountWhen you're ready to move on from an email account, Skiff Mail ensures safe data transfer
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How to delete an email account from iPhone Settings

You can use multiple email accounts from different providers on Apple Mail, including Gmail, Outlook, or less mainstream but more secure alternatives. Once you log into one of your email profiles, the app will automatically import the following data from that account:
  • Emails
  • Calendar
  • Contacts
To remove an email account from your iPhone, follow these easy steps:
  1. Go to Settings
  2. Scroll to find Mail or look for it via the search bar
  3. Select Accounts
  4. Choose the account you want to delete
  5. Go to Delete Account
  6. Confirm your decision
The Account menu allows you to manage the individual functions of each account. For example, you could delete your Outlook or Gmail account but keep all the contacts and notes intact. You can also delete all emails on Yahoo without losing calendar appointments from that account.

How to delete an email account on an iPhone from Gmail and Outlook apps

If you don’t use Apple Mail, you can manage and delete your accounts directly from the app of the email provider you’re using.Here’s a quick way to remove your account from the Gmail app:
  1. Open Gmail
  2. Visit the Profile page
  3. Tap Manage Accounts to see a list of Gmail accounts you’re using
  4. Select Remove from this device
Bear in mind that this isn’t only a Gmail account. It’s a Google account that’s used with other apps like:
  • YouTube
  • Google Docs
  • Google Maps
  • Google Drive
Removing a Google account will also log you out of those apps. The same goes for a Yahoo Mail account and Yahoo Finance, for instance.If you’re using the Outlook app, you can remove your account by following these steps:
  1. Open the Outlook app
  2. Tap your profile picture in the top-right corner
  3. Go to Settings
  4. Choose the account you want to delete
  5. Swipe left
  6. Choose Delete

How to remove an email account from an iPhone via Safari

If you’ve accessed any email account through Safari and stayed logged in, you’ll have to manually sign out from the browser, as it won’t happen automatically.Follow these steps to remove your email account:
  1. Open the Safari app
  2. Visit the website of the email provider
  3. Look for Account settings
  4. Sign out of the desired account
This is particularly important for users who want to migrate to a more private email solution, as staying logged in will leave your account and personal data vulnerable to unauthorized access.Here’s a table showing how different email services gather and use your private data:
Email providerData collection & usageAdvertisementsThird-party sharing
Google (Gmail)Collects various data, including email content and metadataDisplays adsYes
Microsoft (Outlook)Collects data for personalization, security, and analyticsDisplays adsYes
Yahoo MailCollects data to personalize content and improve servicesDisplays adsYes
Logging into Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo Mail from your browser allows these providers to violate your privacy, mine your data, and monitor your online behavior.

Removing vs. deleting an email account

The methods outlined above will only sign you out of accounts on your phone. The profiles continue to exist, and you might be logged into them on other devices. This fact is especially important if your goal is to delete an email account to stop your email service provider (ESP) from accessing your emails.Removing the accounts from your iPhone won’t achieve this because they haven’t been deleted from the providers’ databases. The only real solution is permanently deleting your accounts and switching to a more secure email provider.

Why opting for a secure email client matters

Mainstream email providers like Google and Microsoft often invest in their user interface and quality-of-life features at the cost of other major factors—like security and data privacy.They generally use weak encryption protocols, such as Transport Layer Security (TSL). The protocol only protects your email data in transit between servers—not while resting on them.This leaves your email messages vulnerable to hackers, who could access your sensitive information from a private email server. Such email attacks have bypassed Gmail passwords before, and there’s no reason to assume it won’t happen again.Besides security issues, there are additional privacy concerns to consider, as Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft have used content from emails for ad targeting in the past. While this practice has supposedly been suspended, nothing prevents these providers from doing the same in the future.Because of this, an increasing number of people seek an alternative to mainstream email platforms.
Simplify account removal with Skiff MailSkiff's one-click migration feature helps you get full security without losing important data
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What kind of email security do you need?

Platforms like Outlook and Google provide two-factor authentication (2FA) and password-protected messages as additional security options. While helpful, these measures can’t compensate for the lack of security and data privacy.With basic encryption, you don’t fully control who can read your emails. Your private information is freely available to your email service provider and its staff. You can only have full access control with a provider that uses end-to-end encryption (E2EE) to protect your messages.Unlike Google’s or Outlook’s server-based encryption, E2EE happens at the device level, ensuring no one has unauthorized access to your messages. Even if hackers manage to intercept your emails in transit or gain access to email servers, they won’t be able to decrypt your messages. Only the intended recipient can decrypt your email using the private key stored on their device. The result is complete email privacy.Despite these advantages, only a handful of email providers offer real E2EE protection. If you want to ensure anonymous, private, and safe email correspondence—consider switching to Skiff Mail.
Source: Skiff

Elevate your email privacy with Skiff Mail

Skiff is an exceptionally secure email provider with end-to-end encryption based on a set of unique keys. The following table explains how they’re used:
Type of encryption keyPurpose
Public keyUsed to encrypt emails. It’s exchanged between users automatically when an email is sent
Private keyUsed to decrypt emails. Always remains on the recipient’s device and is never shared with anyone
This encryption method ensures no one but the intended recipient can see the contents of your email—including Skiff’s staff. The platform enables two-factor authentication (2FA) via the Authenticator app as an additional protection measure against unauthorized access.Unlike most mainstream email service providers, Skiff doesn’t share your data with third parties, protecting your emails from prying eyes. It implements a zero-knowledge login policy, allowing you to sign in without leaving any personal information in the first place.At the same time, Skiff's intuitive features and ease of use don't affect email security. The platform has a modern and clean interface and a straightforward setup process. You can sign up and start using it immediately, like any other mainstream email platform.

Additional features

Besides security and a high-quality user experience, Skiff rivals the biggest industry names regarding pricing and features.Unlike Gmail, Skiff doesn’t lock advanced security measures behind its most expensive subscription plan. The free plan has the same E2EE protection that premium users get.A free Skiff account also includes:As Skiff is 100% open source, you can freely access its codebase through the platform’s GitHub page. If you’re interested in a thorough explanation of Skiff’s security methods, more information is available on the official Skiff Discord channel and in this whitepaper.

Create a secure online workspace with Skiff

Source: SkiffOne of the major selling points of industry giants is their ability to integrate email services with cloud-based productivity tools. Many encrypted email platforms fail to reach a wide audience because they can’t compete with the numerous features of Google Workspace or Office 365.Skiff provides practical productivity tools within a secure ecosystem. Besides an email service, a free Skiff account gives you access to:
  • Skiff Pages—An end-to-end encrypted alternative to Google Docs and note-taking apps like Google Keep. It lets you create, edit, and collaborate on encrypted documents
  • Skiff Drive—A secure cloud storage that allows you to share and view all file types through encrypted links
  • Skiff Calendar—Private scheduling tool with built-in video conferencing that makes it easy to securely share your calendar and event invites
The entire Skiff ecosystem is available on iOS and Android. You can quickly import crucial data from other accounts.

How to set up Skiff on your iPhone quickly

Stepping up your email privacy game with Skiff takes only three easy steps:
  1. Visit the signup page
  2. Create a username and password
  3. Get access to Skiff Mail and all the productivity tools
Skiff’s free plan means you’ll never have to pay for a basic account if you don’t want to. Once you need custom domains, more storage, and more aliases, you can upgrade to one of the three affordable subscriptions and enjoy the freedom of a secure online workspace even more.

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