Disable Mail Categories in iOS 18 for a Cleaner Inbox

Apple’s latest announcement from the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 9 has set the stage for exciting changes with the upcoming iOS 26. This new version not only promises a sleek transparent glass design for icons and menus but also introduces a revamped Games app. Even more intriguingly, iOS 18.2 brought a new feature to the Mail app called Categories, which sorts incoming emails into distinct groups to streamline your inbox experience.

According to Apple, “The Mail app automatically sorts your email messages into categories to help you find and manage messages quicker.” If the Categories feature doesn’t suit your style, you can easily revert to the traditional layout. Let’s dive into how Mail Categories work and how you can turn off the feature if it’s not for you.

Understanding Mail Categories

Mail Categories function similarly to what you might find in Gmail, sorting emails into four main brackets: Primary, Transactions, Updates, and Promotions. The Transactions category collects emails related to receipts, orders, and delivery notifications, while Updates captures emails from social networks and subscriptions. Promotions are reserved for special offers, naturally.

The Primary category is a bit of a catch-all, designated for “Messages that matter most.” In my experience, this category often includes personal communications along with customer service replies and refund notifications.

Adjusting Email Categories

While you can switch most emails between categories, some restrictions apply. To manually categorize an email, follow these steps:

1. Open the Mail app.
2. Select the Transactions, Updates, or Promotions tab and tap a message.
3. Tap the three dots (…) in the top right corner.
4. Tap Categorization.

Here, you can change messages from a sender into a different category, but keep in mind that all messages from that sender will be categorized uniformly, which can lead to some frustration.

For instance, after moving an email about theater tickets from Promotions to Primary, all future emails from that theater now land in the Primary category, including promotional content. Although you can recategorize emails within Promotions and Updates easily, changing Primary emails back isn’t possible.

If you’d prefer to disable the Categories feature altogether, here’s how to do it:

1. Open the Mail app.
2. Tap the three dots (…) in the top right corner.
3. Select List View.

Once you do this, your emails will display in chronological order as they arrive. There’s also an “All Mail” option available when Categories are enabled. To find All Mail, simply swipe the category bar left to reveal it. This view shows all incoming mail without the filtering of Categories.

For more detailed insights on iOS updates, you can explore information about versions like iOS 18.5 and iOS 18.4, along with everything you need to know about the upcoming iOS 26.