Question :

I really like the ‘flag message’ option in the macOS Mail.app to quickly flag messages I have read but want to keep around to act on later. The option to differentiate the flag color makes it even more useful for me.

Still… on my iPhone and iPad I can see the flag colors I have set on Mail.app in macOS, but I can’t seem to change the flag color… I can just flag a message, but it will automatically (auto-magically ?) set the color and I can’t seem to change it…

Isn’t there any way to change the mail flag color on iOS and/or iPadOS ?

 

Answer :

Yes, there is…

But… it might not be were you would expect it…

To quickly flag a message in iOS or iPadOS, do this :

• when going through the list of mail messages in Mail.app, select the mail message you want to flag and slide it to the left
• now, you will see 3 options : “More” (grey), “Flag”/”Unflag” (red) and “Archive” (purple)
• click on “Flag” and the mail message will be flagged
• …but the flag color cannot be chosen or changed this way

An alternative way to flag a message in iOS or iPadOS is this :

• when going through the list of mail messages in Mail.app, click&hold the mail message you want to flag
• now the mail message will open in a new window, with a menu list below it
• click on “Mark…” from the menu list
• in the next menu that opens, click on “Flag” and the message will be flagged
• …but the flag color cannot be chosen or changed this way

But… the way to also be able to choose or change the flag color in iOS or iPadOS is this :

• when going through the list of mail messages in Mail.app, select the mail message you want to flag and slide it to the left
• now, you will see 3 options : “More” (grey), “Flag”/”Unflag” (red) and “Archive” (purple)
• click on “More” ( do NOT click on “Flag” here ) and a pop-up menu will appear with full options
• in the pop-up menu, click on “Flag” and you get the option to pick a flag color (or to unflag entirely)
• note : when you choose or change a flag color, you will be returned to your inbox, but when you click “Flag” or “Unflag” here, you will stay in the pop-up menu and have to close it manually (by clicking the X-button top-right) to return to your inbox

That’s it !

enjoy 😉