How to Turn Off Push Email on iPhone (Fetch New Data)

To turn off push email on iPhone, open Settings > Apps > Mail > Mail Accounts > Fetch New Data, turn Push off, and choose a Fetch schedule. Your iPhone then checks for new mail on that schedule instead of receiving it the moment it arrives.

These steps are for Apple’s Mail app on iPhones running iOS 18, iOS 26 and later, and they also work on an iPad. iOS 17 and earlier use a slightly different path, covered in step 1. Separate apps such as Gmail or Outlook have their own settings. For setup and everyday Mail tasks, read this iPhone Mail app overview.

Push, Fetch and Manual Explained

Each email account in Mail gets new messages in one of three ways:

Setting	How new mail arrives	Best for
Push	The mail server sends each message to your iPhone as soon as it arrives	Work or time-sensitive email
Fetch	Your iPhone checks the server on a schedule you choose	Saving battery while still getting mail in the background
Manual	Mail checks only when you open the app or pull down to refresh	The fewest interruptions and the least background activity

Push needs support from your email provider. iCloud and Microsoft Exchange accounts usually offer it. Some providers, including Gmail, don’t offer Push in Apple Mail, so those accounts only show Fetch and Manual. Apple notes that when Push isn’t available, the account uses Fetch.

Turn Off Push and Set a Fetch Schedule

1. Open Settings, scroll down, and tap Apps, then Mail. On iOS 17 and earlier, tap Mail in the main Settings list, then Accounts.
2. Tap Mail Accounts, then Fetch New Data at the bottom of the account list. You see the Push switch at the top, your accounts in the middle, and the Fetch schedule at the bottom.
3. Turn Push off. Accounts that were set to Push now follow the Fetch schedule.
4. Under Fetch, tap a schedule: Automatically, Every 15 Minutes, Every 30 Minutes, Hourly or Manually. A check mark appears next to your choice.
5. Leave the screen. The change saves on its own; there is no Save button.

Apple’s Mail troubleshooting guide confirms this path and explains that Automatically is the default. With Automatically, your iPhone fetches new mail in the background only while it’s charging and connected to Wi-Fi. At other times, new messages appear when you open Mail.

Change Push or Fetch for One Account

You can keep Push for one account and turn it off for another. For example, you might want work email instantly but a personal shopping account only when you check it.

1. Go to Settings > Apps > Mail > Mail Accounts > Fetch New Data.
2. Tap the account you want to change.
3. Choose Push, Fetch or Manual. If Push isn’t listed, the provider doesn’t support it for that account.
4. Tap the back arrow. The account now shows your choice next to its name.

The overall Push switch at the top still needs to be on for any account to use Push.

Pick the Right Fetch Interval

A longer interval means fewer background checks, so it uses less battery, but new messages show up later.

• Every 15 Minutes: close to real time for accounts that can’t use Push.
• Every 30 Minutes: a middle ground for most personal email.
• Hourly: the most battery savings while Mail still checks in the background.
• Automatically: fine if you mostly read mail with the Mail app open.
• Manually: Mail checks only when you open it. Avoid this for any account where you need alerts for new messages.

The Fetch New Data screen is shared with Calendar and Contacts, so the same schedule also controls how often calendars and contacts from those accounts update.

How to Confirm It Worked

Send yourself a test message from another address. With a 15-minute schedule, it should appear within about 15 minutes without opening Mail. With Manually, it appears as soon as you open Mail or pull down on the inbox to refresh. Changing Fetch never affects sending; messages you write still go out right away.

If an old iPhone is still receiving your mail and you want it to stop completely, remove the device syncing with Outlook.com.

Troubleshooting

• Mail isn’t arriving at all. Make sure your iPhone is online and check with your email provider for an outage. Apple also suggests checking whether your provider requires a special app password or extra security approval.
• New mail appears only when you open Mail. The schedule is probably Automatically or Manually, or Low Power Mode is on. Apple’s Low Power Mode page says it turns off email fetch. Pick a timed schedule, and turn off Low Power Mode in Settings > Battery if you need background checks.
• Mail arrives but you get no alert. Alerts are a separate setting at Settings > Notifications > Mail. Turn on Allow Notifications and choose your alert styles.
• One account behaves differently. Tap that account on the Fetch New Data screen and check whether it’s set to Push, Fetch or Manual.
• A Gmail or Outlook app still sends instant alerts. Those apps don’t use Apple Mail’s Fetch setting. Change their alerts in Settings > Notifications under the app’s name, or in the app’s own settings.

To undo the change, return to Fetch New Data and turn Push back on. To add, turn off, or delete the account itself, read about managing an iPhone email account.

Frequently Asked Questions