Swipe to Delete

Swipe to Delete, Instantly

In some applications with lists of items, like Mail, Messages, and Notes, swipe across an item to delete it. You might know that you can swipe partway to reveal a Delete button that you can separately tap.

However, you can actually continue your swipe all the way to the left to complete the deletion in one fell swoop.

These are applications where the item you are “deleting” is actually going to a trash location from which you can recover it. Thus, there is no need to confirm the deletion.

Sometimes Deleting Requires Confirmation

In other applications where there is no such “trash,” like Fantastical, swipe to delete reveals a confirmation dialog. This is because there’s no way back, so you must be extra sure of your intention.

To move forward, tap the red Delete button to confirm, or tap Cancel or outside the dialog to escape this action.

What About Archiving?

Sometimes, an application prefers to keep an archive of removed items. For example, in Deliveries I swipe to archive instead of delete. Later, when adding another delivery, I have the option of choosing a past delivery at least to capture its name without having to retype. I can also use the archive to restore items I inadvertently removed.

You might find in Mail that the swipe action is Archive instead of Delete. If so, you’re probably interacting with a Google-hosted email account (including Gmail), where the default setting when adding the account to your device is to archive discarded messages instead of deleting them. If this is not your intention, take a look at Mac Mondays: Archive vs. Delete from two years ago.

I explained how to change to Delete as well as how to find all those messages you archived when you thought you were deleting them. In fact, you may have by now filled up your Google storage capacity with emails you can no longer locate. Learn how to get rid of them once and for all.