How to Stop iOS Mail From Using Cellular Data
To turn off cellular data usage for iOS Mail, open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad and select Cellular. Then, scroll down and tap the toggle switch next to Mail until it is in the Off position. With cellular data turned off for the Mail app, you can still read mail already on the phone and compose messages to be delivered as soon as you are connected to a Wi-Fi network.
Prevent iOS Mail From Checking Mail in the Background
To prevent Mail from checking for new email in the background, turn off push email for all accounts. You can disable automatic checks on a schedule in the iPhone email account settings. Disabling push on an email account also disables pushing calendar events and contact changes associated with the email account. Follow these steps to configure iOS Mail to avoid checking for new messages in the background or to receive messages automatically through push email from the server as they arrive:
Modify the iOS Mail Polling Frequency
Another way to conserve data is to configure the iOS Mail app not to check mail automatically. Then, use the app only when you need it and when it is connected with a cellular plan or Wi-Fi.
Other Settings That Affect Email Data Usage
When set to Push, iOS continuously checks the server for new information and then delivers that information to the iOS device in near real-time. Because Push causes the Mail app to update as often as possible, it isn’t a good choice if you are concerned about data usage. When set to Fetch, iOS has options to check the email server in five ways:
Automatically: The iPhone fetches new email messages in the background when on Wi-Fi.Manually: Email refreshes only when you open the Mail app.HourlyEvery 30 minutesEvery 15 minutes
Each of these settings restricts the Mail app’s access to the email server in one way or another. Select the option that works best for you.
