How to schedule emails on the go
There are all sorts of reasons why you might want to schedule an email for a later date rather than right away. Maybe you don’t want to wake up your teammate who lives in a different time zone, or maybe you just don’t want your teacher to know you’ve been up all night to finish your essay.
Whatever the reason, scheduling is now available in many mobile email apps, including the standard platforms on iOS and Android – the Mail and Gmail apps, respectively. Once you know how, you might find that email scheduling comes in handy more often than you expected.
Email on iOS
Those of you who use iPhones already have Apple’s Mail app for iOS installed on your device. And now, with the arrival of iOS 16, the platform now has built-in email scheduling, so you don’t have to rely on a third-party program if you want to delay sending your messages. Just make sure your device is running the latest software.
The same scheduling features are available for new emails and replies. To start a message thread, tap the compose button (it looks like a pen writing on a page) in the bottom-right corner of the main screen. If you’re already in an email thread, tap the reply button (the left-pointing arrow) and select answer or Reply All.
[Related: You can now bring iOS 16’s coolest home screen feature to Android]
Usually, the blue up arrow button (top right) sends the email you’re composing, but if you want to schedule the message instead, tap and hold the button: you’ll then see a range of options, including Send now and suggestions for times when you want to schedule the email. Choose Send laterand you can set a specific date and time for the email to go its merry way.
A word of caution: if you’re scheduling a message on iOS, remember that the Mail app stores your draft locally on your device, not on Apple’s servers. This means that your iPhone must be turned on and connected to the internet for the message to be sent at the scheduled time.
To view currently scheduled emails (and edit or delete them if needed), tap Send later on the main screen of the app.
Gmail on Android (and iOS)
If you have an Android device, you should find Gmail already installed on your phone. If you have an iPhone and the native Mail app doesn’t cut it for you, you can find Gmail for free on the iOS App Store. As with Apple’s Mail app, the ability to schedule emails is available whether or not you create a new email conversation (tap Compose from the main screen) or reply to an existing conversation (tap answer or Reply All within a thread).
Just write an email as usual and instead of tapping the blue send arrow in the top right corner of your screen, tap the three dots to the right of it and select Schedule sending. You’ll see that Gmail will give you some suggestions on how to send your message, which may vary based on the current time and day. For example, on the weekend you may see a prompt to send the email on Monday morning.
If you want to set your own date and time instead of using one of Gmail’s suggestions, tap Select date and time. A new dialog box will appear, allowing you to schedule the email as needed. Finish by tapping Schedule sending confirm. Note the time zone you’re in – you’ll see it in the dialog box – and remember that your recipients may not be in the same time zone as you.
Gmail users don’t have to worry about their phones being on or having internet access when they want their emails to be sent, as Google’s mail platform processes messages through its servers on the internet.
Finally, you can edit your queued emails or prevent the app from sending them all together by tapping the Gmail app’s menu button (three horizontal lines in the top left of the main screen) and selecting Planned.
Spark on iOS and Android
One of the third-party email apps that supports scheduled sending is Spark, which you can get for free on iOS and Android (as well as other operating systems). This platform has a variety of useful features such as: B. automatic email prioritization and built-in reminders, although some of these tools require a $5 monthly subscription.
Fortunately, you don’t have to pay to schedule emails. From Spark’s main interface, you can compose a new message by tapping the button that looks like a pencil in the bottom-right corner of the screen. You can also reply to messages using the Reply button. It’s the icon with an arrow pointing left under open email conversations (tap to make a selection). answer or Reply All).
[Related: Dig up any old email in your inbox. Even if it’s in the trash.]
After composing your email, instead of tapping the Send button (the paper airplane icon in the top-right corner of your screen), tap the toolbar icon above the keyboard that looks like a paper airplane with a stopwatch above it . You can choose from a few suggestions for scheduling times, or tap select date to be precise. Choose To adjust to change the options that appear in this area by default.
Once you set the schedule, you need to tap on the “Send” button (top right). The message will be sent on the specified day and time, regardless of whether your phone is on or running Spark. To view your scheduled emails, tap the menu button (three horizontal lines in the top left of your screen) and select Outbox. You can also edit and delete scheduled emails from here.