Having trouble sending or receiving emails on your iPhone 5s after installing an iOS update? If that’s so, then you must be one of the many iPhone owners who are bothered by the same post-update dilemma inflicted by the iOS email bugs. To give you some inputs, I’ve mapped out some applicable workarounds and potential solutions to eliminate the bug and fix your iPhone 5s email problems.
Troubleshooting iPhone 5s email problems after iOS update
Basing on the fact that the email symptoms started after installing a new update to iOS, system bugs are most likely the underlying cause of the problem. Nonetheless, identifying the precise error would be an arduous challenge. With that said, you can refer to these outlined solutions to eliminate individual software-related factors that trigger the occurrence of email sending and receiving problems on your iPhone 5s. After performing each solution, don’t forget to create a test email to send and receive to your own email account to determine whether or not the problem is fixed.
First solution: Quit the Mail app then restart
If you’ve left the Mail app open or suspended during the update installation, chances are that the app have become corrupted and is no longer able to work unless you restart it. Hence, consider ending the Mail app and/or all background apps on your iPhone 5s with these steps:
- Double-press the Home button from the Home screen. Doing so will show previews of the apps you’ve recently used.
- Swipe right or left to find Mail app.
- Then swipe up on the Mail app’s preview to close the app.
You can also clear out all background apps using the same procedure to make sure none of them is causing conflicts to the Mail app, especially when you’re using it.
After clearing all background apps, restart/reboot your iPhone 5s to dump junk files and temporary that heap up the system cache. To soft reset your iPhone 5s, simply follow these steps:
- Press and hold the Power (Sleep/Wake) button on the top of the phone for a few seconds.
- Release the button when the Power Off slider appears. The iPhone will then shut down.
- After a few seconds, press and hold the Power (Sleep/Wake) button until the Apple logo appears and then release the button.
If your iPhone seems to be stuck while launching the Mail app, then you will need to do a forced restart. Simply follow these steps to continue:
- Press and hold the Power (Sleep/Wake) button and the Home button simultaneously until the Apple logo appears.
- Release both buttons when you see the Apple logo and wait for it to finish its boot-up sequence.
Launch the Mail app after the iPhone reboots and then try to see if the problem is fixed. If your iPhone 5s email problem continues and that you still cannot send or receive emails on the phone, then try to rule out network-related factors using the next solutions.
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Second solution: Toggle Airplane Mode on and off
Minor problems affecting wireless services like email can also be dealt with by performing the Airplane Mode trick. This works by simultaneously restarting the iPhone’s wireless radios and relevant functions, thereby eliminating random glitches including those that are inflicted by iOS bugs. If you wish to try this trick, then here’s how it’s done:
- From the Home screen, tap Settings.
- Select Airplane Mode.
- Then toggle the switch to turn Airplane Mode on. Doing so disables your iPhone’s wireless radios and relevant features are turned off.
- While Airplane Mode is turned on, restart/soft reset your iPhone.
- After it reboots, go back to Settings-> Airplane Mode menu.
- Then toggle the Airplane Mode switch to turn Airplane Mode off again.
Wait for your iPhone to re-establish wireless connection and then reconnect to your Wi-Fi network to use and access online apps including email.
Third solution: Toggle Mail app off and on
Minor in-app glitches transpiring on the Mail app after installing the new iOS update can also be remedied by temporarily turning Mail off and then back on again. Here’s how:
- From the Home screen, tap Settings.
- Tap Accounts & Passwords.
- Navigate to the Accounts section.
- Select your email account.
- Then toggle the switch to turn Mail off and then on again.
If you’ve set up multiple email accounts on your device, be sure to set your preferred default email account. Here’s how it’s done:
- Tap Settings from the Home screen.
- Tap Accounts & Passwords.
- Scroll down and tap on Default Account.
- Then select the email account that you want to set as your default email account on your iPhone 5s.
Emails that show up on the inbox are the ones that are from the email account that you’ve set as default. You can also switch between email accounts accounts as you would prefer from time to time.
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Fifth solution: Delete email account then add it back
It’s possible that your email app had been corrupted from the recent system update and therefore it’s no longer working. If that’s the case, then you will need to delete the corrupted email account and then set it up as new. Here’s how:
- From your Home screen, tap Settings.
- Select Accounts & Passwords.
- Select the problematic email account that you want to remove.
- Then tap Delete Account.
After deleting the problematic email account, restart/soft reset your iPhone 5s to clear its cache and to refresh its memory. As soon as it boots up, proceed to these steps to add your email account manually (if you know the mail server settings) or automatically (if you don’t know the mail server settings). If you opt to go for manual email setup, just follow these steps:
- From your Home screen, tap Settings.
- Tap Passwords & Accounts.
- Select the option to Add Account.
- Choose your email service provider or tap Other if it’s not listed.
- Continue by tapping on Add Mail Account.
- Enter the essential email information such as your name, email address, password, and email account description (if you prefer).
- Tap Next to continue.
- Wait for the Mail app to attempt to find the email settings and finish the account setup process.
- To complete the account setup, tap Done once Mail finds your email settings.
If it can’t find your email settings, follow these steps to enter them manually instead:
- After tapping Next from the previous screen, select IMAP or POP for the new email account that you want to create. Contact your email service provider if you aren’t sure of which type of email to choose.
- Enter the incoming mail server and outgoing mail server information.
- Tap Next to continue.
- Tap Save to complete the email setup.
- If you’re prompted to edit the email settings, it means that the information you input is incorrect and therefore you need to make necessary changes.
Also care to check your Mail settings and make sure that the server information entered for both the incoming and outgoing mail servers are correct. You can view the recommended settings for your email account through the Mail Settings Lookup tool then compare the details and make sure they’re the same as what’s shown on your screen. If the information doesn’t match and you’re not sure of which settings to use for your email account, then you better contact your email service provider for the correct mail server settings.
After successfully setting up your email account, reboot your iPhone to save the recent changes and to clear out junk files from its cache folders. Then try opening the Mail app and create a sample email to send and receive to your own email account. If you can send and receive email, then that means the problem is fixed and your iPhone 5s should now be able to get and send emails as intended, for as long as it’s connected to the Internet.
Sixth solution: Reset network settings
Performing a network reset is also necessary to deal with persistent email errors inflicted by invalid network settings on the phone. Some software updates implements new settings, thus overriding your current network configurations. This therefore could possibly result in some conflicts. To make sure this isn’t causing email problems on your iPhone 5s, reset its network settings with these steps:
- Tap Settings from your Home screen, to get started.
- Select General.
- Scroll down to and tap on Reset.
- Select the option to Reset network settings.
- Enter your passcode when asked to proceed.
- Then tap the option to confirm that you want to reset network settings on your iPhone 5s.
After the reset, you’ll be disconnected from the Wi-Fi network. To get back online and use online services, particularly email, you need to set up your Wi-Fi network to join and connect like the first time you did.
If a network settings reset still failed to fix the problem, you can go for all settings reset on your iPhone 5s. This should help eliminate any system errors from the recent iOS update that might have caused problems to your iPhone’s email functions. Here’s how it’s done:
- From the Home screen, tap Settings.
- Tap General.
- Select Reset.
- Tap Reset all settings from the given options.
- If prompted, enter your passcode to continue.
- Then tap to confirm that you want to reset all settings on your iPhone.
Your iPhone will then restore its original settings and values without affecting the internal data. To use necessary features, particularly those that are disable by default, you need to re-enable them individually on your phone.
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Still getting email problems and cannot send/receive emails on your iPhone 5s
If your iPhone 5s email problems continue after exhausting all the given solutions, it’s possible that the problem is attributed to some complex system error or iOS bug that require more advanced solutions. In this case, your next option would be an iOS restore either through recovery mode or DFU mode.
You can also try using other email platforms aside from the stock Mail app on your iPhone 5s. Doing so will help you determine whether or not the problem is isolated to the built-in Mail app on your device. Among the most credible alternative email platforms you can use on your iPhone 5s are Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Spark, Newton Mail, Airmail, Spike, and Outlook, to name a few. Just pick the platform that’s compatible with the latest iOS version of your iPhone and the one that meets your email needs.
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