Fritz writes: Hi, thank you for the tip (on how to delete an email in iOS 7). On my Gmail account, I’m only seeing the “More” and “Archive” prompts. I do not see a delete or “Trash” option. The closest thing is a junk mail option after selecting More. I was wondering if you might know what’s up. Thanks for your time.

Hi Fritz! Yep, if you’re checking a Gmail account on an iPhone or iPad, the iOS 7 “Mail” app switches out the standard “Trash” button (which you can reveal by swiping from right to left on a message in your inbox) with an “Archive” button (which sends the message to Gmail’s All Mail directory).

iOS Gmail account Archive mailbox settings

You can swap out the “Archive” button with “Trash” by changing a single iOS setting.

Want to swap out the Archive button with a regular Trash button?

Here’s how…

  • Tap Settings, “Mail, Contacts, Calendars,” then tap the entry for your Gmail account.
  • Next, tap the top Account setting (the one that lists your Gmail address), then tap Advanced.
  • Under the “Move discarded messages into” heading, tap “Deleted Mailbox.”

Now, go back your Gmail inbox and swipe a message — and when you do, you should see a red “Trash” button rather than “Archive.”

Bonus tip

Want to keep the “Archive” button for your Gmail messages but change the mailbox (or “label,” in Gmail parlance) where your archived messages go?

Go back to the Advanced settings for your Gmail account, tap Archive Mailbox under the Mailbox Behaviors setting, then pick a new mailbox from the list.

Looking for more iOS 7 tips? Click here!

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