How to unsubscribe from junk mail in iOS 13

Email remains a great way to keep in touch with people and exchange information that feels too long for a text or WhatsApp post. Sadly, many companies and colleagues also want to share their latest news with you, which might not always be so welcomed in your inbox.

Here’s how to unsubscribe from circulars, newsletters, and other junk mail in iOS 13.

Use the in-app ‘unsubscribe’ option

Apple Mail does a decent job of trying to decipher whether the messages you receive are from individuals or companies, especially if the latter appears to be part of a general mail-out rather than a response to something you’ve asked.

It’s a distressing truth that we can inadvertently sign up to mailing lists without meaning to, when joining new online services or retail outlets. Should you forget to click the box forbidding partners of the site to send updates and news, then you’ll start receiving a barrage of emails from outlets you may have no interest in at all.

To stop the daily tips from Peat-Bog Experts or Dog Walkers of Albania, simply open the latest email from them and you should see a message at the top of the page saying ‘This message is from a mailing list’. Underneath is the option to Unsubscribe.

Tap this and you’ll see a dialog box appear, notifying that Mail will send a message from your email account to unsubscribe from the list. To agree with this, tap the Unsubscribe option.

Blocking senders

A new feature in iOS 13 is being able to block individual users from sending you emails. This is handy if you find that the unsubscribe option is being ignored, which can often be the case.

To block someone sending you email, open the Mail app and find one of the messages from the person in question. Tap on it, then tap on the contact name displayed in the upper-left corner to reveal the From: section where you need to tap on the contact name once more.

This opens a new window with the contact details and you’ll see there’s also an option to Block this Contact. Tap this and you’ll be asked to confirm your decision by selecting Block this Contact.

Changing the Blocked Sender settings

There are a few different ways that you can tell the Mail app to treat messages from blocked contacts. To find them, open the Settings app, scroll down and tap on Mail, then select Blocked Sender Options.

In here are three options: None, Mark as Blocked, Leave in inbox, and Move to Bin. Tap the one that meets your preference and Mail will now automatically deal with any messages you receive from someone on your Blocked list.

If you accidentally block someone, then you can restore them by going to Settings > Mail > Blocked then tapping on the Edit button in the top-right corner and selecting the delete button to the left the contact.

For more details on what Apple has included in the new version of its iPhone operating system read our Best iOS 13 features guide.