How to schedule an email to send later in Apple Mail

(Pocket-lint) – You could be one of those super-organized people who keep track of their emails during the traditional workday, or you could be someone who is deleting and replying to emails at 9pm at night.

Even if you work at 9:00 p.m., not everyone does, or you may be in a different time zone than your colleagues or clients. So sometimes it’s better to send an email later or the next morning so you don’t disturb the recipient at 9pm but still get your emails or replies done when it’s convenient for you.

Previously this was not possible for Apple Mail users. You could save a draft, but you couldn’t schedule an email to send later. However, with iOS 16 this is possible. How to schedule an email to be sent later in Apple Mail using your iPhone.

How to schedule an email in Mail on iPhone

To schedule an email to send later in Apple Mail, your iPhone must be running iOS 16 or later.

Once you’re running the latest software, follow the steps below to schedule an email to be sent later in Apple Mail.

1. Open Mail on your iPhone
2. Write the copy of your email and fill in the recipient and subject line – whether it’s a new email or a reply
3. When you’re done composing your email, long-press the blue send arrow in the top-right corner
4. Depending on what time it is, you’ll be presented with a few options including Send now, Send tonight at 9:00 p.m., Send tomorrow at 8:00 a.m., Send later.
5. To schedule an email, tap Send Later.
6. Select the date from the calendar that appears, and then select the time by tapping the time next to the date
7. You can also choose a time zone, which is helpful for those who work with colleagues on different continents
8. Tap Done in the top right.
9. That’s it. Your email will be sent at the time and date you selected.

How to schedule an email to be sent later in Mail on Mac

For Mac users, this becomes easier when MacOS Ventura is launched. For now, you can schedule an email on Mail using the Automator app that comes preinstalled on Mac computers.

You can also use another email app like Gmail or an Apple Mail plugin. It’s not as easy as it is on iPhone though, so it might be worth doing it from your iPhone first until Ventura arrives.

How to see your scheduled emails in Mail

Once you’ve scheduled an email to send later in Mail on your iPhone, they all appear in a separate section of your inbox.

Follow these steps to find all your scheduled emails:

1. Open Mail on your iPhone
2. In the Mailboxes section, you will see a mailbox named Send Later under Unread.
3. Tap the Send Later mailbox and you’ll see all your scheduled emails and when to send them.
4. You can either tap “Edit” in the top right and select all the emails you want to delete, or you can swipe from right to left and tap the red trash can to delete them.

Writing from Britta O’Boyle.