Remove and Re-Add Your Mail Account

To change your mail account on iPhone, you remove the old account from the Mail app and then add the new one. The process takes about five minutes and does not delete your emails — it only disconnects that account from your phone.

Open Settings, scroll down and tap Mail, then tap Accounts. You will see a list of every email account connected to your iPhone. Tap the account you want to remove, then tap Delete Account at the bottom of the screen. A warning will appear asking if you want to delete the account from your iPhone only or from iCloud as well. Choose Delete from My iPhone unless you are removing a personal iCloud account entirely.

After you delete the account, go back to the Accounts screen and tap Add Account. Choose the type of email provider — iCloud, Google, Microsoft Exchange, Yahoo, AOL, or Other. Enter your email address and password, and iPhone will usually detect the correct settings automatically. If it does not, you may need to enter the incoming and outgoing mail server addresses, which your email provider can give you.

Key Takeaways

  • Removing a mail account from Settings > Mail > Accounts does not delete your emails — it only disconnects the account from your iPhone.
  • After you delete the old account, tap Add Account and choose your email provider type to set up the new one.
  • iPhone usually fills in mail server settings automatically, but some providers require you to enter them manually.
  • If you use the same email address for both accounts, remove the old one completely before adding the new one to avoid conflicts.

What Happens to Your Emails When You Remove an Account

When you remove a mail account from your iPhone, the emails stay on the mail server — they do not disappear. If you log into that account on a computer or another device, all your old messages will still be there. Removing the account from your iPhone only stops that phone from showing those emails.

If you want to keep a copy of your emails before you remove the account, you can forward important messages to your new email address or take screenshots. Most people do not need to do this, because the emails remain on the server indefinitely unless you delete them there.

Adding a New Account When You Do Not Know the Server Settings

If iPhone cannot detect your mail settings automatically, you will see a message saying "Cannot Connect" or asking for more information. This usually happens with smaller email providers or corporate email systems. Do not guess — contact your email provider or your company's IT department and ask for the incoming mail server address, outgoing mail server address, and the port numbers for each.

Common server addresses include mail.yourprovider.com or smtp.yourprovider.com, but every provider is different. Once you have the correct addresses, go back to Settings > Mail > Accounts > Add Account, choose Other, and enter your email address. Tap Next and then IMAP or POP3 (your provider will tell you which). Enter the incoming server address, your username, and password, then tap Next. On the next screen, enter the outgoing server address and credentials, then tap Done.

Switching Between Multiple Email Accounts on iPhone

If you have more than one email account set up on your iPhone, you can switch between them in the Mail app without removing anything. Open Mail, tap the Mailboxes tab at the bottom, and you will see all your accounts listed. Tap any account name to view only that account's inbox, or tap All Inboxes to see messages from every account in one list.

When you compose a new email, you can choose which account to send from by tapping the From: field and selecting the account you want. This is useful if you have a work email and a personal email and want to keep them separate. You do not need to remove one account to use the other — they can coexist on your phone.

Fixing Common Problems When Adding a New Account

If you see an error message like "Invalid Credentials" or "Cannot Connect," the most common cause is a typo in your password or email address. Double-check both, paying attention to capital letters and spaces. Some email providers also require you to use an app-specific password instead of your regular password — Gmail and Microsoft accounts often work this way for security reasons. Check your email provider's help page or contact their support team to learn about you need a special password.

If the account adds successfully but you do not see your old emails, the account may be set to POP3 instead of IMAP. POP3 only downloads emails that arrive after you set up the account, while IMAP shows all your emails on the server. Remove the account and add it again, making sure to choose IMAP when prompted. If you are still not seeing old emails after switching to IMAP, they may have been deleted from the server already.

Using iCloud Mail Instead of Another Email Provider

If you are switching to an iCloud email address, the process is slightly different. Go to Settings > Mail > Accounts > Add Account and choose iCloud. Sign in with your Apple ID and password. iPhone will automatically set up your iCloud Mail account along with your iCloud contacts, calendar, and other services. You can still keep your old email account on your phone at the same time — you do not have to remove it unless you want to.

iCloud Mail works with IMAP, so you will see all your emails across all your Apple devices. If you delete an email on your iPhone, it will be deleted on your Mac, iPad, and iCloud.com as well. This is different from some other email providers, where each device can have its own copy of your emails.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will removing my email account from iPhone delete my emails?

No. Removing an account from your iPhone only stops that phone from showing those emails. Your emails stay on the mail server and will still be there if you log in on another device or on the web. They are only deleted if you delete them directly from the server.

Can I have two email accounts on my iPhone at the same time?

Yes. You can add as many email accounts as you want to your iPhone. In the Mail app, you can view each account separately or tap All Inboxes to see messages from all of them together. When you compose an email, you can choose which account to send from.

What do I do if I forgot my email password?

Go to your email provider's website and use their "Forgot Password" link to reset it. Once you have set a new password, go to Settings > Mail > Accounts, tap your account, and update the password there. If you do not update it on your iPhone, the Mail app will keep trying to use the old password and will show an error.

Why does my new email account say "Cannot Connect"?

This usually means iPhone could not detect your mail server settings automatically. Contact your email provider and ask for the incoming mail server address, outgoing mail server address, and port numbers. Then remove the account and add it again, choosing Other and entering the settings manually.

Can I change which email account is my default for sending?

iPhone does not have a global default — it remembers which account you used last and suggests that one next time. If you want to send from a different account, tap the From: field when composing an email and choose the account you want. There is no way to lock it to one account permanently.