# iPhone gurus - Getting rid of stuck mail

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-gurus-getting-rid-of-stuck-mail/802620>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 24, 2017, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-gurus-getting-rid-of-stuck-mail/802620 "2017-11-24T20:33:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-gurus-getting-rid-of-stuck-mail/802620/1 "2017-11-24T20:33:06Z")

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I’m probably missing something stupidly obvious, but here’s the problem: I have a couple of pieces of email in the Inbox on my phone that refuse to delete. It’s not like they are special - some piece of spam from Walmart and a solicitation notice from PBS. But they won’t go away. No matter how many times I try to delete them, my phone keeps saying “Unable to move these items at this time.” Every other piece of mail is no problem, and these items DON’T EXIST in my inbox when I check it from any other computer. They are just versions that have somehow gotten stuck in my phone. Rebooting hasn’t helped.

Any ideas, short of going to an Apple store and laying it at their feet? Something I don’t want to do during the shopping season!

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**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-gurus-getting-rid-of-stuck-mail/802620/2 "2017-11-24T20:43:38Z")

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Remove the account then add it back.

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**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-gurus-getting-rid-of-stuck-mail/802620/3 "2017-11-24T20:49:25Z")

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Do you use IMAP or POP3 to communicate with your email provider? (IMAP leaves mail on server until you delete, POP moves mail to your phone and deletes from server - so the only copy is on your phone)

If the IMAP, you should be able to delete the mail configuration on your phone (Settings:Mail:Accounts) and set it up again. (Make sure you note the settings you are using) Saved mail gets copied back to phone.

If you look at Settings:Mail:Accounts:\<acctname\>:Advanced you should see if things are set up for IMAP or POP3.

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**Author:** ![Tierce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@Tierce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tierce)\
**Post date:** [November 24, 2017, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-gurus-getting-rid-of-stuck-mail/802620/4 "2017-11-24T22:39:01Z")

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I’ve had this happen with an IMAP setup when I had Outlook running on a PC as well. The message wouldn’t go away from the phone’s view until I quit Outlook on the PC.

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [November 25, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/iphone-gurus-getting-rid-of-stuck-mail/802620/5 "2017-11-25T00:23:21Z")

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Dumping and reinstalling Outlook did it.

Thanks!