Recovering permanently deleted emails from iCloud on an iPhone is possible but can be challenging. iCloud automatically syncs and stores emails from accounts like Gmail or Outlook, so even if you delete an email on your iPhone, it may still be recoverable from iCloud for a limited time. Here are some potential ways to try recovering deleted iCloud emails on your iPhone.
Check Recently Deleted Folder in iCloud Mail
When you delete an email on your iPhone’s Mail app, it gets moved to the Recently Deleted folder in iCloud Mail. Emails stay in this folder for 30 days before being permanently deleted from iCloud servers. So your first step is to check the Recently Deleted folder:
- Open the Mail app on your iPhone
- Swipe left to open the folders list
- Tap on the Recently Deleted folder
- Look for any emails you want to recover and swipe left to reveal the Recover button
- Tap Recover to move the email back to your inbox
This will work for emails deleted up to 30 days ago. But if the email has been deleted from the Recently Deleted folder too, you’ll need to try other recovery methods.
Restore from iCloud Email Backup
iCloud automatically creates daily backups of your emails. You can restore from one of these backups to recover deleted emails:
- Go to icloud.com and login to your account
- Click on the Mail icon
- Click on the Gear icon in the bottom left and select Restore Mailbox…
- Choose the backup date you want to restore from. Pick a date before the email was deleted.
- Click Restore and your mailbox will revert back to the state it was on the backup date.
This will work as long as the backup date you choose is before the email was deleted. Backups expire after 30 days, so this method only goes back 30 days max.
Use Third-Party Software
If the email was deleted more than 30 days ago, your only option is to use third-party software designed to recover permanently deleted iCloud data. Here are some options:
Fonelab iPhone Data Recovery
Fonelab is an iOS data recovery app that can retrieve deleted iCloud emails beyond 30 days. To use:
- Download and install Fonelab on your computer
- Connect iPhone to computer and launch Fonelab
- Select “Recover from iCloud Backup” and login to iCloud account
- Scan and preview recoverable emails, select those you want to restore
- Click Recover to save emails back to your computer
Fonelab scans iCloud backups directly to find deleted emails no matter how old they are. The free trial lets you scan and preview emails.
EaseUS MobiSaver
MobiSaver by EaseUS is another data recovery tool that works similarly:
- Install and open MobiSaver on your Windows or Mac computer
- Choose the Recover from iCloud Backup mode
- Enter your Apple ID and password to connect to iCloud
- Select the backup date range to scan
- Preview and selectively recover deleted emails
MobiSaver can find deleted iCloud emails going back further than 30 days. The free trial allows full scans and previews.
iMyFone D-Back
iMyFone D-Back is designed to recover deleted iPhone data from iCloud backups. To use:
- Download and install iMyFone D-Back on computer
- Launch the program and login to your iCloud account
- Choose the backup date range and scan for deleted emails
- Preview recoverable emails and tick those you want to restore
- Recover selected emails back to your computer
Like the other software, iMyFone can retrieve permanently deleted emails by scanning iCloud backups directly. A free trial is offered.
Prevent Email Deletion
To avoid having to recover deleted emails in the future, you can enable a setting to prevent accidental email deletion:
- Open the Settings app and go to Mail > Accounts & Passwords
- Select your iCloud email account
- Turn on Disable Delete Option
This will remove the Trash and Delete buttons in the Mail app, preventing permanent deletion. Emails will only go to Recently Deleted.
Conclusion
Here are the key takeaways for recovering deleted iCloud emails on iPhone:
- Check Recently Deleted folder within 30 days
- Restore from an iCloud email backup within 30 days
- Use data recovery software like Fonelab, MobiSaver, iMyFone if email was deleted beyond 30 days
- Enable Disable Delete option to stop accidental permanent deletions
With the right tools and techniques, there’s a good chance of getting back even permanently deleted emails from iCloud on iPhone. Act quickly if the deletion just happened to recover from backups. Or use specialized third-party software if more time has passed to rescue those lost emails.