Where to Find the Junk Folder on Your iPhone
The Junk folder in iPhone Mail sits under Mailboxes, grouped with the other folders for each account that supports it. Open Mail, tap Mailboxes in the top left corner, then tap Junk under your account.
A missing Junk folder is switched off in your mailbox list. The steps below turn it back on in under a minute.
These steps follow Apple’s iPhone User Guide for iOS 26. Gmail accounts show a Spam folder in place of Junk.
How to Find the Junk Folder on iPhone
The Junk mailbox lives inside the Mail app, grouped with your other folders for each account.
- Open the Mail app.
- Tap Mailboxes in the top left corner. If you are already inside an inbox, tap the back arrow first to get there.
- Look under your email account for Junk. It sits with Inbox, Sent, and Trash.
- Tap Junk to open it.
Mailbox order is yours to change, so Junk will not always sit in the same spot on two different iPhones.
If Junk is not on the list at all, turn it on using the steps in the next section.
Why You Might Not See a Junk Folder on Your iPhone
Account type decides whether you get a Junk folder, a Spam folder, or nothing at all.
| Account type | Folder name | Where filtering happens |
|---|---|---|
| iCloud | Junk | iCloud Mail rules, on your iPhone or at iCloud.com |
| Yahoo, Outlook, other IMAP | Junk | The provider’s own mail settings |
| Gmail | Spam | Google’s spam filter |
| POP and some work accounts | Often none | The provider’s website or mail server |
| Where to set rules | iCloud only | Settings, your name, iCloud, Mail, iCloud Mail Rules |
If junk mail keeps slipping past your filters no matter what you try, see our guide to stopping junk email on iPhone for good.
How to Turn On the Junk Folder on iPhone
- Open the Mail app and tap Mailboxes in the top left corner.
- Tap Edit in the top right corner.
- Find your email account in the list.
- Tap the empty circle next to Junk so a checkmark appears.
- Tap Done in the top right corner.
- Tap Junk under your account to open it.
Junk now sits with your other mailboxes every time you open Mail.
Why Your Mail Screen Looks Different in iOS 26
iOS 26 sorts your inbox into categories: Primary, Transactions, Updates, and Promotions.
That is the single biggest reason your screen will not match older instructions you find online. The buttons move depending on whether you are looking at Primary, a category, or a single sender’s digest.
Left swipe actions are also yours to set under Settings, Apps, Mail, Swipe Options, so the buttons that appear when you swipe will not be the same on every iPhone.
How to Mark an Email as Junk on iPhone
Apple gives you three paths to Move to Junk, and the one you use depends on what is on screen. For a broader cleanup, check our two ways to stop spam emails on iPhone.
With a message open, tap the Reply Actions button at the bottom of the screen, then tap Move to Junk.
From a message list, tap Select at the top, tap the circles next to the messages you want, tap the Mark button at the bottom, then tap Move to Junk.
Inside a sender’s digest view, swipe left on a message, tap the More button, then tap Move to Junk.
On an iCloud account, later messages from that same sender are marked as junk automatically. Other providers run their own filters and make no such promise.
How to Move an Email Out of Junk and Back to Your Inbox
Filters get it wrong sometimes. Here is how to rescue a real email from the Junk folder.
- Open the Mail app and tap Mailboxes.
- Tap Junk under your account.
- Tap the message you want to move.
- Tap the Move to Folder button at the bottom of the screen. It looks like a small folder icon.
- Tap Inbox.
The message lands back in your inbox.
iPhone Mail has no Not Junk button. Moving the message to your Inbox is the way to undo a bad junk call, and adding the sender to your Contacts helps keep the next one out of Junk.
How to Block a Sender Instead
Blocking goes further than Junk. It stops the sender at the door.
- Open the message from that sender.
- Tap the sender’s name at the top of the message.
- Tap Block this Contact.
Your blocked list lives under Settings, Privacy and Security, Blocked Contacts.
Where to Manage Junk Mail Filtering Rules
iCloud accounts get real filtering rules, and iOS 26 puts them on the iPhone itself.
- Open the Settings app.
- Tap your name at the top, then tap iCloud.
- Under Saved to iCloud, tap Mail.
- Tap iCloud Mail Rules, then tap Add Rule.
The same rules are available at icloud.com under Mail Settings if you would rather set them up on a computer.
On iCloud Mail, messages from people already in your iCloud contacts, or from a conversation you replied to, skip the Junk folder.
If a specific sender keeps landing in Junk by mistake, our guide on why email keeps going to your Junk folder on iPhone covers the fix.
How Long Do Emails Stay in the Junk Folder?
On iCloud accounts, emails in the Junk folder delete automatically after 30 days.
Check your Junk folder every so often so you do not lose a real message before it disappears for good.
To clear it out early on your iPhone, open Junk, tap Select, tap the circles next to the messages, then tap Delete at the bottom.
A one tap Empty Junk command lives at icloud.com, in the Settings menu at the top of the Mailboxes list.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Gmail have a Junk folder on iPhone?
Gmail accounts show a Spam folder in place of Junk inside the Mail app. Google runs the filtering for those accounts, so Gmail sets the rules and the behavior you see.
Why did a real email go to my Junk folder?
Mail filters flag messages based on the sender, wording, and links inside the email. New senders and marketing style language trigger it most often, even when the message is legitimate. See our guide to hiding or viewing Junk messages on iPhone for more.
Can you turn off junk filtering on iPhone?
The Mail app has no on or off switch for junk filtering. On an iCloud account you shape it with iCloud Mail Rules, reachable from Settings, your name, iCloud, Mail, iCloud Mail Rules, or from icloud.com.
Does deleting Junk mail remove it from my other devices?
Yes, for accounts like iCloud and Gmail that sync across devices. Deleting a message from Junk on your iPhone removes it from the Junk folder on your iPad and Mac too.