Mail

You can attach photos, videos, and documents to an email message for recipients to easily download and save. You can also scan a paper document and send it as a PDF, or draw right in a message.

Depending on the file size, attachments might appear inline with the text, or as the Insert Attachment button at the end of the message. Documents come from Files, including the ones in Recents or Shared. And if your file exceeds the maximum size your email account allows, you’ll be able to send it using Mail Drop.

Attach a photo, video, or document to an email

Documents, videos, and photos you attach and send in your email messages are easy for recipients to download and save.

1. Go to the Mail app on your iPad.
2. Tap in the message where you want to insert the attachment, tap the Insert Attachment Actions button, and do one of the following:
   • Attach a document: Tap Attach File and then locate the document in Files.

     In Files, tap Recents or Shared, then tap a file, location, or folder to open it.

   • Attach a saved photo or video: Tap Photo Library, then choose a photo or video. Tap the Done button to return to the message.
   • Take a new photo or video and attach it to the message: Tap Take Photo or Video, then take a new photo or video. Tap Use Photo or Use Video to insert it into your message, or tap Retake if you want to reshoot it.

Note: If the file exceeds your email account’s maximum size, the onscreen instructions help you send it using Mail Drop.

Scan and attach a document to an email

You can scan a paper document and send it as a PDF.

1. Open the Mail app on your iPad.
2. Tap in the message where you want to insert the scanned document and tap the Insert Attachment Actions button above the keyboard.
3. Tap Scan Document and then position iPad so that the document page appears on the screen—iPad automatically captures the page.

   To capture the page manually, tap the Take Picture button or press a volume button.

4. Scan additional pages, then tap Save when you’re done.
5. To make changes to the saved scan, tap it and then do any of the following:
   • Crop the image: Tap the Crop button.
   • Apply a filter: Tap the Show Filter Settings button.
   • Rotate the image: Tap the Rotate button.
   • Delete the scan: Tap the Delete Scan button.

Create and attach a drawing to your email

Some ideas are hard to put into words, so you can draw in an email message to demonstrate them. Your drawing goes into the message as an attachment recipients can view and download.

1. Open the Mail app on your iPad.
2. Tap in the message where you want to insert a drawing and then tap the Insert Drawing button above the keyboard to show the Markup toolbar.
3. Choose a drawing tool and color. Write or draw with your finger.

   See Write and draw in documents with Markup.

4. When you’re finished, tap the Done button and then tap Insert Drawing.

To resume work on a drawing, tap the drawing in the message, tap the Disclosure arrow in the menu that appears, then tap Markup.

See also

• Download email attachments in Mail on iPad
• Annotate email attachments on iPad

You can download attachments that are sent to you in email messages or easily search for messages with attachments in your mailboxes.

You can save an image in the Photos app, save an attachment in the Files app, or open it with another app. You can also identify and learn more about objects in photos you receive. And you can quickly fill out forms you receive in Mail, or filter your messages to show only those with attachments when you can’t find one someone sent you.

Download an attachment sent to you

1. Go to the Mail app on your iPad.
2. Open a message with an attachment and touch and hold the attachment.
3. Do any of the following:
   • Save it in the Photos app: Choose Save Image.
   • Save it in the Files app: Choose Save to Files.
   • Open it with another app: Tap Share, then choose the app.

   

   Tip: You can identify and learn more about objects in photos you receive. Touch and hold the photo, then choose Look Up. See Identify objects in your photos and videos on iPad.

Quickly fill out forms you receive in Mail

You can use AutoFill to quickly fill out forms you receive in the Mail app.

1. Start the Mail app on your iPad.
2. In the message, tap the attachment to open the document.
3. Tap the AutoFill button and tap a blank field to enter text using the onscreen keyboard.
4. To fill out another line, tap it. Enter text.
5. Tap the Share button, then choose a method to send the completed form.

Find emails with attachments

When you can’t find an attachment someone sent you, filter your email messages so only those with attachments show up.

1. Start the Mail app on your iPad.
2. In a mailbox, tap the Toggle Filtering button to turn on filtering.
3. Tap Filtered by and then turn on Only Mail with Attachments.

Quick tip: You can also gather email messages with attachments from all your accounts in one mailbox. To set it up, tap the Show Sidebar button (top left) to see your mailboxes, then tap Edit and select Attachments. From then on, the attachments mailbox sits in the mailboxes list alongside the rest.

See also

• Add email attachments in Mail on iPad
• Annotate email attachments on iPad

To send and receive email using the Mail app, you need to add the email accounts you want to use. When you first open Mail, you’re asked to set up an account. At any time, you can add more email accounts to your iPad, or remove accounts you no longer need.

You can also set a fetch schedule for an account, or temporarily stop using one.

Here’s how to add and remove email accounts on iPad.

Add an email account

To get all your email in one place, add one or more email accounts to the Mail app. Then you can send email from any of those accounts with ease.

1. Start the Settings app on your iPad.
2. Tap Apps and then tap Mail.
3. Tap Mail Accounts, then tap Add Account.
4. Enter your email address, tap Next, and enter your email account information.

Note: With multiple accounts set up, you can choose which one to send from while composing your email message. For how it works, read our article, Send an email from a different account.

Set a fetch schedule for your email account

For an account that doesn’t support Push notifications, set a schedule to check that account for new emails.

1. Start the Settings app on your iPad.
2. Tap Apps and then tap Mail.
3. Tap Mail Accounts and then tap Fetch New Data.
4. Under Fetch, choose a schedule.

   Automatically is the default selection, which means new data is downloaded when your iPad is charging and connected to Wi-Fi. To fetch more often outside of these conditions, choose a timed schedule.

Temporarily stop using an email account

Turning off an account in Settings temporarily stops sending and receiving email from it on your iPad. It’s easy to turn it back on at any time.

1. Start the Settings app on your iPad.
2. Tap Apps and then tap Mail.
3. Tap Mail Accounts and tap the email account you want to turn off.
4. Do one of the following:
   • Turn off an iCloud email account: Turn off Use on this iPad.
   • Turn off another email account: Turn off Mail.

Quick tip: Focus filters let you get notifications only from specific email accounts during times you choose. You could silence your work email account’s notifications on the weekends or while you’re on vacation, for example. To set one up, check out our guide, Set up a Focus on iPad.

Delete an email account

If you remove an email account, it disappears from both the Mail app and all the apps on your iPad that use it.

Note: This only removes the email account from your iPad. It doesn’t cancel it, so to close the account completely, visit your email account provider.

1. Start the Settings app on your iPad.
2. Tap Apps and then tap Mail.
3. Tap Mail Accounts. Tap the email account you want to remove.
4. Tap Sign Out or Delete Account.

   Note: If you change your mind later, you can add the email account back to your iPad. Follow the steps in Add an email account.

Add the Mail app back to your Home Screen

The Mail app may not be on your Home Screen, but you can find it in the App Library and add it back.

1. On the Home Screen, swipe left until you see the App Library.
2. Enter “Mail” in the search field.
3. Touch and hold the Mail app icon. Tap Add to Home Screen.

To get your Home Screen just right, check out our article, Move apps and widgets around.

See also

• Check your email in Mail on iPad
• Send email in Mail on iPad
• Set up a custom email domain with iCloud Mail on iPad

With the Mail app, you can send, receive, and organize messages from all your email accounts in one place. You can add accounts from different email services, like iCloud, Exchange, or Gmail, write and send a new message, and reply to an email, delete it, and more while you’re reading it.

Add an email account

You can add all your email accounts from different email services—like iCloud, Exchange, or Gmail (Google). To add an account, go to Settings > Apps > Mail. Tap Mail Accounts, then tap Add Account.

Send an email

Tap the Compose button to start a new email message. Add a recipient, subject, and your text, then tap the Send button to send your message.

Reply to an email message, delete it, and more

You can perform many actions on an email message while viewing it. Open the message, then tap the More Actions button in the bottom-right corner to open the actions menu.

Find emails fast

You can easily find emails using the search feature in Mail. Tap the Search button to reveal the search field. Tap a suggestion to narrow your search to a specific timeframe or to filter by attributes like flagged or unread.

Change Mail settings

You can customize your email signature, change your swipe options, and more in Mail settings. Go to Settings > Apps > Mail.

For more help with Mail, these guides have you covered:

• Add and remove email accounts on iPad
• Send email in Mail on iPad
• Reply to and forward emails in Mail on iPad
• Search for email in Mail on iPad
• Change your Mail settings on iPad
• Check your email in Mail on iPad
• Flag or block emails in Mail on iPad

You can write, send, and schedule email messages from any of your email accounts.

You can change the font style and color of text, use bold or italic, add a bulleted or numbered list, and add a hyperlink. With the onscreen keyboard, you can also switch to the smaller QuickType keyboard. You can edit a link later, too, and as you add recipients, Mail suggests people from your Contacts.

Here’s how to send email in Mail on iPad.

Write and send an email

1. Go to the Mail app on your iPad.
2. Tap the Compose button.
3. Tap in the email and type your message.

   With the onscreen keyboard, you can tap individual keys. Or pinch closed with three fingers to use the smaller QuickType keyboard, then slide your finger from one letter to the next, lifting your finger only after each word.

4. To change the formatting, tap the Text Format button above the keyboard.

   You can change the font style and color of text, use a bold or italic style, add a bulleted or numbered list, and more.

5. Tap the Send button to send your message.

Quick tip: As you compose messages, you can create stickers and add them. See our guide, Add emoji, Memoji, and stickers with the iPad keyboard.

Add recipients

1. Start the Mail app on your iPad.
2. Tap the Compose button and tap the To field. Then type the names of recipients.

   As you type, Mail automatically suggests people from your Contacts, along with email addresses for people who have more than one email address.

   You can also tap the Add Contact button to open Contacts and add recipients from there.

3. If you want to send a copy to other people, tap the Cc/Bcc field. Do any of the following:
   • Tap the Cc field, then enter the names of people you’re sending a copy to.
   • Tap the Bcc field, then enter the names of people whose names you don’t want other recipients to see.

Add a hyperlink to an email message

1. In Safari or another web browser, copy the URL of a webpage.
2. As you compose a message in Mail, highlight the text you want to link.
3. Tap Paste.

Edit a link in an email draft

1. Start the Mail app on your iPad.
2. In a message you’re writing, tap a link or linked text and tap the down arrow.
3. Do any of the following:
   • Show Link Preview: Change the hyperlinked text to a rich embedded website preview image.
   • Open Link: Go to that website in a web browser.
   • Edit Link: Change the URL of the link.
   • Remove Link: Delete the link from your message draft.
   • Edit Text Description: Change the text that’s linked.

Capture an email address from a photo

With Live Text in the Photos app on iPad, you can interact with an email address on a business card, poster, and more, so you can quickly begin emails without entering an address manually.

1. Start the Photos app on your iPad.
2. Open a photo and then tap the email address you want to capture.
3. After the yellow frame appears around detected text, tap the Live Text button.
4. Tap or use the grab points to select the email address and tap New Mail Message.

Quick tip: The same Live Text feature can capture an email address with the Camera app. Read our article, Use Live Text with your iPad camera.

Schedule an email with Send Later

1. Start the Mail app on your iPad.
2. In a message you’re writing, touch and hold the Send button. Then choose when you want to send the message.

   To see more options, tap Send Later.

Automatically send a copy to yourself

1. Start the Settings app on your iPad.
2. Tap Apps and then tap Mail.
3. Turn on Always Bcc Myself (below Composing).

Send an email from a different account

When you have more than one email account, you can pick the one to send email from.

1. Start the Mail app on your iPad.
2. In your message draft, tap the Cc/Bcc, From field.
3. Tap the From field and then choose an account.

Use Writing Tools to summarize, proofread, and modify your email

With Apple Intelligence, you can use Writing Tools to summarize selected text with a tap, proofread your work, and create different versions of the same text to help you find the right wording and tone. See Use Writing Tools with Apple Intelligence.

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.*

*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.

See also

• Check your email in Mail on iPad
• Reply to and forward emails in Mail on iPad
• Use keyboard shortcuts in Mail on iPad