How to delete an iCloud email account: A step-by-step tutorial

While iCloud Mail is the default email provider for many Apple users, there are various reasons to explore alternatives. You may need enhanced productivity features or a more streamlined email management experience. Whatever the reasons, this article will explain how to delete an iCloud email account. 

If you only want to declutter your correspondence, this tutorial will also show you:

• How to mass-delete emails on iCloud

• How to remove an iCloud email account from your iPhone

• What email service providers might be worthy alternatives to iCloud Mail

How to delete an iCloud email account via browser

Deleting an iCloud email address also means permanently clearing out any associated data, such as:

• Contacts 

• Emails

• Calendar events

If you’re unsure of whether you’ll need these in the future, make backups before proceeding. After that, you can delete your iCloud email address by following these steps:

1. Open your web browser

2. Visit the Apple ID Management page

3. Sign in and go to your iCloud Settings

4. Go to the Data & Privacy page

5. Choose the Manage Your Data option

6. Confirm your identity via two-factor authentication if you have it enabled

7. Scroll down to the Mail category and click on Manage

8. Choose the Delete Email Address option

9. Confirm your choice on the pop-up window by clicking on Delete from Account

Once you've deleted your iCloud email account, update other accounts or email services with your new email address.

Making a backup of the data before deleting your email account will ensure you don’t lose anything important in the transition to a new email account, like photos, messages, and app configurations. 

Here’s a step-by-step guide to exporting your iCloud emails:

1. Visit iCloud.com 

2. Sign in with your Apple ID

3. Go to Mail 

4. Click the checkboxes next to the messages you want to export (to select multiple emails, hold the Command key on Mac or Ctrl key on Windows keyboards)

5. Choose between Export as EML and Export as PDF options

6. Select where you’ll save the exported files

7. Click Save

To export your iCloud Calendar data, follow these steps:

1. Launch the Calendar app on your Apple device

2. Choose the calendar from the left-hand sidebar

3. Open the File section from the upper toolbar

4. Click on Export

5. Choose your desired location

6. Click Save

Backing up your iCloud contacts is almost identical:

1. Open the Contacts app 

2. Open the View section from the toolbar

3. Choose Show Groups

4. Click All Contacts

5. Open the File menu

6. Click Export

7. Choose Export vCard

8. Pick a location and click Save

Deleting opened emails regularly is an excellent way to keep your inbox clutter-free and organized. Emails take up your storage space, of which you only get 5 GB for free. After a few years of continuous use, you might need to delete all emails as they’re bound to pile up even with the best inbox maintenance habits. 

You can easily mass-delete emails from your iPhone in a few steps:

1. Open the Apple Mail app

2. Choose your iCloud account in Mailboxes

3. Click on Edit

4. Choose Select All

5. Click Delete

Once you click Select All, you can manually unselect the important emails you want to keep. 

This process doesn’t delete your emails permanently—it only sends them to the Trash folder. To discard the emails completely, go to the Settings screen of your Mail app and tap Empty Bin. 

You don’t necessarily need to delete your iCloud account permanently if you want to streamline email communication—you can remove one of your email addresses from your iPhone. 

By removing an email account, you’ll still have all your emails and associated data, but they won’t be available on that specific device. You can access the account from your iPad or computer. 

To remove an email account from your iPhone, follow these steps:

1. Open Settings

2. Go to Mail

3. Tap on Accounts

4. Choose an email account to remove

5. Toggle the Use on this iPhone option off

The instructions aren’t limited to iCloud accounts—you can use the same process to remove a Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, or any other email account from your iPhone. The only difference is that other email providers won’t have the Use on this iPhone toggle—there will be a Delete Account option instead. 

While many owners of Apple devices use it, the iCloud email service comes with a few notable downsides, including:

• Limited amount of free storage

• Optimization limited to iOS devices

• Limited productivity enhancement features

Most email services provide a certain amount of free storage with a basic account and require you to switch to a paid subscription to get more. Apple users get 5 GB of storage and a maximum of 20 MB for attachments. 

The space isn’t reserved only for emails—the same 5 GB is shared between your calendar, backups, and documents. If you use iCloud to save photos, you’ll burn through that 5 GB quickly.

iCloud email doesn’t support POP email servers, limiting your server settings to IMAP. 

POP protocols download all emails to your device and delete them from the email server. Your device is where the emails are stored, and switching to a different device means losing them unless you back them up manually. 

With IMAP, your messages are stored on the server, and email services like iCloud Mail create temporary copies on your device while you’re viewing them. This allows you to access all emails from any device.

POP is less popular today, but IMAP comes with some security vulnerabilities—hackers who gain access to iCloud’s servers could obtain your emails, for example. While POP requires more configuration and is less user-friendly, some businesses and individuals still prefer it. 

It’s not the end of the world for most users, but it’s clear that Apple primarily intended iCloud to be used with Apple Mail on iOS devices. 

There’s no dedicated iCloud Mail app for Android devices. You can still access your emails via a mobile browser, but the user experience will be poor compared to a dedicated app.

While iCloud Mail provides a functional email service, users with more demanding productivity needs might find its built-in features limited for efficient inbox management. For instance, if you need advanced productivity and customization features to manage your inbox efficiently, you may need to explore alternative solutions. 

iCloud Mail’s functionality is sufficient for basic email correspondence, but it lacks built-in tools for automatically sorting, labeling, and managing a high volume of emails. This can result in having to organize your inbox manually, which may be more demanding or time-consuming. 

Even further, iCloud Mail offers limited flexibility in tailoring your inbox layout to specific personal or professional needs. It offers integration functions, such as syncing with the Mail app on all your Apple devices, and a few third-party integrations. However, this can be limiting for users who desire a tool with seamless integration for all their work applications.

If you are looking for an email service with more productivity and customization features than iCloud, Notion Mail may be a good alternative.

Notion Mail is an AI-first email service that helps you approach your inbox without an overwhelming sense of dread—it takes the stress out of email management and gives you a powerful productivity tool instead. The platform leverages several functionalities to help you:

• Keep clutter at bay

• Speed up and automate email activities

• Boost your workflow efficiency 

The core Notion Mail features that transform your inbox include:

With Notion Mail, you never have to compromise on efficiency due to costs. Notion Mail is free to use and offers robust AI features that keep your workflow smooth and tidy. 

Because Notion Mail seamlessly integrates into the full Notion productivity suite, you can achieve even more without switching between third-party apps. 

Notion Mail’s default features, such as Notion Calendar, deliver an already unique email management experience that helps you boost your organization and productivity. But if you need a more advanced experience, you can consider getting the Notion AI add-on. 

Getting started with Notion Mail is simple. Sign up with your Gmail or Google account, set up your workflow, and begin your journey to productivity!

Bonus read: Discover alternative email services and solutions to common issues in our detailed guides:

• Gmail vs. Apple Mail

• Apple Mail vs. Outlook

• Best Gmail app for Mac