You can use Siri voice commands to help you check your email, dictate new emails, and respond to emails in the same way you can with text messages.
It’s important to note that Siri will only work with email accounts added to the Apple Mail app on an iPhone, iPad, and Mac. So if you wish to use third-party services like Gmail and Outlook, they’ll need to be configured in the Mail app first.
The standard voice commands for dealing with email are easy to learn, but for extra tips on composing the content of messages verbally using Siri, read our dictation guide.
In this article, we’ll show you the following:
- How to send an email with Siri.
- How to check your emails with Siri.
- How to respond to emails with Siri.
- How to delete an email with Siri.
How to send an email with Siri
First, activate Siri on your iPhone using one of these methods.
- Press and hold the Side/Home button until Siri appears.
- By saying “Hey Siri”.
Read more about how to set up and use Siri on your iPhone.
To send a new email to a contact in your address book, say the following, being sure to include the person’s name:
Hey Siri, email Jason Harper.
You can also use a relationship’s name, such as ‘husband’ or ‘sister’ if they have already been assigned to your contacts:
Hey Siri, send an email to my sister.
If the contact has multiple email addresses, Siri will ask you to choose which one you want to use.
Siri will then ask you to dictate the subject line and the message content.
How to include a subject in your email
To include the subject in your initial request, say:
Hey Siri, send an email to Jason Harper subject meeting.
Hey Siri, email Jason Harper about vacation.
Siri will then ask you if you would like to dictate the content of your message.
How to include the content of your email
Include the main body of your email when asking Siri by saying:
Hey Siri, email Jason Harper and say ‘had a great time on Friday night’.
How to ask Siri to send an email and include the subject line and message body at the same time
Combine the previous voice commands to compose an entire email using Siri.
Hey Siri, email Jason Harper and say ‘had a great time on Friday night’ subject dinner.
Once your message is complete, Siri will ask you if you are ready to send it. Confirm by saying Yes or tapping Send on the screen.
How to edit an email
At this point, you can change the email message and subject line. If you’re not happy with it, just say:
Change subject.
Change message.
You can also tell Siri to cancel and abandon the email altogether.
During this process, you can tap the message screen to open up the draft email in the Mail app to edit with a keyboard.
How to check your emails with Siri
To check your emails, say:
Hey Siri, check email.
Siri will announce the number of emails in your inbox and begin reading through them. After reading the subject line of the first email, Siri will ask:
Do you want to hear the next one?
Say “yes” or “no,” depending on your preference.
Siri won’t read the content of the email. If you want Siri to read the body of an email to you, take a look at our article on enabling Spoken Content.
Check for emails from contacts
To show emails from a specific contact, say:
Hey Siri, show emails from Adam Harper.
Hey Siri, show me the last email from Chloe.
Siri will display a list of emails from the contact and offer to read them to you.
Check for emails by subject line
You can ask Siri to filter your email messages by subject line by saying the keyword on your command:
Hey Siri, show emails about Black Friday.
Hey Siri, show me new mail about the vacation.
Check for emails by date
You can search through your email message by date, too, using natural language, such as:
Hey Siri, show me all emails from the 1st of July.
Hey Siri, show the email from Chloe yesterday.
How to respond to emails with Siri
To reply to an email, the person you are responding to must be in your contacts. If you are already looking at the email message in the Mail app on your iPhone, Siri will know to whom you want to respond.
You can reply to an email message by saying:
Hey Siri, respond.
Hey Siri, reply.
Siri will automatically begin composing a new email message and prompt you to dictate the text.
You can also reply by calling, using FaceTime, or sending a message.
Hey Siri, call him.
Hey Siri, FaceTime her at home.
Hey Siri, send him a message.
How to delete emails with Siri
It used to be possible to delete emails using Siri, but this feature has been removed.