In the Mail app, you can reply to or forward emails yourself, or use Apple Intelligence to draft quick, personalized responses.
When you reply, you can quote text from the sender to clarify what you’re responding to. You can also follow up on emails, set up an automatic reply, and use Smart Reply. You can reply to just the sender, or to the sender and the other recipients.
Here’s how to reply to and forward emails in Mail on iPad.
Reply to an email
- Open the Mail app on your iPad.
- Tap in the message. Do one of the following:
- Reply to just the sender: Tap the More Actions button.
- Reply to the sender and the other recipients: Tap the Reply All button.
- Type your response. Then tap the Send button to send.
Quote some text when you reply to an email
To clarify what you’re responding to, you can include text from the sender when you reply to an email message.
- Open the Mail app on your iPad.
- In the sender’s message, touch and hold the first word of the text and drag to the last word. (See Select, cut, copy, and paste text.)
- Tap the More Actions button, tap Reply, and then type your message.
Note: You can turn off the indentation of quoted text in Mail’s settings. Go to Settings > Apps > Mail > Increase Quote Level (below Composing), and turn off Increase Quote Level.
Forward an email
You can send an email message forward to new recipients.
- Open the Mail app on your iPad.
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Tap the message, then tap the Forward button.
If there are attachments in the original message—like photos or documents—you can decide whether to include them in the forwarded message. Choose Include or Don’t Include.
- Enter the email addresses of the new recipients.
- Tap in the message, then type your response. The forwarded message appears below.
Follow up on emails
An email message you send that doesn’t receive a response for several days goes back to the top of your inbox automatically as a reminder to follow up.
To turn off Follow Up Suggestions, go to Settings > Apps > Mail, then turn off Follow Up Suggestions.
Set up an automatic reply in Mail
Using iCloud.com, you can set up an automatic reply for incoming email messages or have messages forwarded automatically to another inbox.
Use Smart Reply
Smart Reply, an Apple Intelligence feature, can quickly draft an email response in your personalized writing style.
Note: Apple Intelligence on iPadOS 27 or later is available on an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPad mini (A17 Pro) and iPad models with M1 or later. Apple Intelligence is not available in all languages or regions. Usage limits may apply.*
- Open the Mail app on your iPad.
- Tap the Sidebar button, tap an email, and then tap the Reply button.
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In the keyboard, tap a suggested reply.
Apple Intelligence drafts a reply in the email. To refine your reply, see Use Writing Tools to write, improve, and summarize content.
- When you’re ready to send your reply, tap the Send button.
*Apple Intelligence is available with Siri and device language set to Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, or Vietnamese. Some features may not be available in all regions or languages. Some devices may not be available in all regions. Siri AI is available in beta in iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, and visionOS 27 and requires an Apple Intelligence–enabled device set to a supported language. Available in English to start. Siri AI will not be initially available in the EU on iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS. Certain Apple Intelligence features that rely on server-side models are subject to daily usage limits, including but not limited to Siri AI, Intelligent Photo Editing Tools, Image Playground, and AFM 3 Cloud models in Shortcuts. Daily limits may vary by feature, request complexity, system demand, system policies, and other factors. Expanded access to such features will be available for a fee in the future. Use of these features is subject to the Apple Intelligence Terms and Conditions.
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