How to clear Mail’s folder memory

Question

How to clear Mail’s folder memory

if I get emails from eBay, Amazon etc, my iOS Mail app remembers my preferred folder, eg Txns2022 folder (Outlook.com account)

However at end of year I wanted it to remember the new folder Txns2023 and it will not learn my new preference even after 4 months of moving them there.

I have deleted all my accounts and then deleted the Mail app, restarted, and installed/added back, which I thought did the trick last time. Is there a way to reset its “memory”?

iPhone 12

Posted on Apr 28, 2023 11:12 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Shirley_Knott Author

Level 1

82 points

May 2, 2023 02:58 AM in response to R_Gabriel

OK I had a brainwave, this is a workaround that seems to work.

Deleted the outlook.com account in Mail settings (in all my iOS devices just in case)
Signed into my outlook.com Mail account on my Mac in Safari.
Renamed the offending folder.
Signed out.
Added the account back into my iOS devices.

The next eligible email from eBay did not offer the wrong folder.

It may help others.

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Answer 2

May 2, 2023 01:09 AM in response to R_Gabriel

FWIW renaming the folder from TXNS2022 to TXNS 2022 had no impact. IOS is smart enough to update the link but not smart enough to forget 2022 and learn 2023!

Microsoft said it was an iOS Mail feature, Outlook does not remember folders on iPhones.

I will just have to report it as a bug in iOS 16 - I have the link.

Thanks for your patience.

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Answer 3

May 13, 2023 05:44 AM in response to LD150

I created a single new folder called BUYSELL and moved all my various years of transactions into that folder in Outlook.com account in Safari, then deleted the old TXNSxxxx year-based folders.

All my mails from those senders are offered BUYSELL, even though that folder has no connection to the old folders apart from content. iOS Mail is smarter than I thought, but not in a good way. .

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Answer 4

JessS19

Community Specialist

May 1, 2023 12:37 PM in response to Shirley_Knott

Hi Shirley_Knott,

If you are using an Outlook account, you may have created the folders through Outlook. It would be best for you to contact them for support.

How to get support for Outlook.com

Best wishes.

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Answer 5

May 1, 2023 12:51 PM in response to JessS19

Thank you for replying. The folders were created in iOS or MacOS. I have cleared the memory in the past over many versions of iOS using the above method. I am convinced it is iOS Mail that remembers the folder move preference.

The latest workaround I am trying is to rename the old folder and if it works I will come back.

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Answer 6

May 3, 2023 12:59 AM in response to Shirley_Knott

Oh dear as soon as my next invoice came in (from Apple ironically) iOS Mail offered me the same wrong folder which I had renamed in my Outlook.com webmail while the account was not even in my phone.

Microsoft say they don’t remember folders so I have just reported it as a bug.

If someone can un-mark my best answer it may prevent anyone being misled.

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Answer 7

LD150

Level 10

95,631 points

May 3, 2023 06:57 AM in response to Shirley_Knott

If it is any consolation I have been trying to reset mine since January. Thinking of creating new folders and deleting the old ones but that is a job for the Mac too.

I use Outlook.com too but I doubt that is relevant.

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Answer 8

bhhales

Level 1

8 points

Jun 14, 2024 06:03 PM in response to Shirley_Knott

I know this is an old thread, but I have had this problem for ages. Each year I create a new "202x Receipts", but it is 6 to 8 months before Mac Mail FINALLY starts defaulting to the new folder.

This year, however, I learned that this information may be stored IN ICLOUD, not on your device. I set up a whole new computer and it was suggesting the SAME folders as my old laptop. So if we could get access to this data, we might be able to fix it.

As an experiment, I am going to try creating a whole new folder, moving the old messages to that folder, then renaming the old folder to the new name, and see if mail still suggests the same folder.

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