How to Set Up Mail VIP Contacts in macOS, iOS 11, and iCloud Mail

Mac OS X 10In Apple Mail, finding email messages from certain contacts can be made easier by giving them a "VIP" status. Short for Very Important Person, VIPs are identified in your inbox by a star next to the person's name in any messages you receive from them. Messages from the same VIP are also displayed in their own folder in a special VIP smart mailbox that sits in Apple Mail's Favorites bar.

You can assign up to 100 VIPs, and if you use iCloud Contacts, your VIPs are available on any other Apple devices signed in to the same account. Moreover, you can choose to be notified of emails only when the messages are from people in your VIPs list, thanks to Apple Mail's custom alerts feature. Keep reading to learn how to set up VIPs on macOS, iOS 11 (including Apple Watch), and iCloud Mail.

How to Add a Contact to Your VIP List in macOS
How to Revoke a Contact's VIP Status in macOS
How to Set Up VIP Alerts in macOS

How to Add a Contact to Your VIP List in iOS 11
How to Revoke a Contact's VIP status in iOS 11
How to Set Up VIP Alerts in iOS 11 and Apple Watch

How to Add a Contact to Your VIP List in iCloud Mail
How to Revoke a Contact's VIP Status in iCloud Mail

How to Add a Contact to Your VIP List in macOS

  1. Launch the stock Mail app on your Mac.

  2. Select a message in your inbox from the sender that you want to make a VIP.

  3. Move your mouse cursor next to the person's name in the message header and click the star that appears so that it turns opaque. Alternatively, click the down arrow next to the name or address and select Add to VIPs in the dropdown menu.

macOS Mail VIPs

With at least one contact in your VIPs list, a special VIP inbox will appear in the Favorites bar. If you click the VIP inbox and select a VIP, only messages from that person will be shown in the message list.

How to Revoke a Contact's VIP Status in macOS

In Mail, you can right-click on a person's VIP mailbox in the sidebar and select Remove from VIPs. Alternatively:

  1. Select a message in your inbox from the person whose VIP status you want to remove.

  2. Click the star next to the person's name so that the symbol is no longer opaque. You can also click the down arrow next to the name or address and select Remove from VIPs in the dropdown menu.

macos remove VIPs

How to Set Up VIP Alerts in macOS

  1. Launch the Mail app.

  2. Select Preferences... from the Mail menu bar.

  3. Stay in the General pane, and select VIPs from the dropdown menu next to New message notifications.

macOS VIP notifications

How to Add a Contact to Your VIP List in iOS 11

  1. Launch the Mail app on your iPhone or iPad.

  2. Tap Mailboxes in the upper left corner of the screen.

  3. If you've not created any VIPs before, tap the VIP inbox, which should appear below your regular mailboxes. If you're adding to an existing VIP list, tap the circled 'i' icon next to the VIP inbox.

  4. Tap Add VIP. This option will appear either at the center of the screen if you have no VIPs yet, or at the bottom of your existing VIP list.

  5. Select the person from your contacts that you'd like to add to your VIP list. (Note that the contact card needs to include their email address, otherwise you won't be able to add them as a VIP.)

ios 11 add VIPs Mail

How to Revoke a Contact's VIP status in iOS 11

  1. Launch the Mail app on your iPhone or iPad.

  2. Tap Mailboxes in the upper left corner of the screen.

  3. Tap the circled 'i' icon next to the VIP inbox.

  4. Swipe across the name of the person you want to remove from your VIP list, tap Delete, and you're done. Alternatively, if you want to remove several contacts, tap Edit in the upper right corner of the screen.

  5. Tap the red minus symbol next to the contacts that you wish to remove from your VIP list.

  6. Tap Delete.

  7. Tap Done in the upper right corner of the screen.

ios 11 revoke VIPs Mail

How to Set Up VIP Alerts in iOS 11 and Apple Watch

You can set custom notifications using the VIP alerts button on the VIP list screen. To change your custom VIP alerts at any time, open the Settings app and tap through to Notifications -> Mail -> VIP.

Similarly, you may find email alerts on your Apple Watch aren't worth your time unless the messages are from specific people. So add these to your VIP list, and you can disable all watch Mail notifications except for VIP alerts. You can find these settings in the iOS Watch app in Notifications -> Mail.

VIP alerts apple watch

How to Add a Contact to Your VIP List in iCloud Mail

  1. If you haven't already, navigate to icloud.com in a web browser, sign in using your Apple ID credentials, and select Mail in the web app list.

  2. Select a message in your inbox from the sender you want to make a VIP.

  3. Click the sender's name or email address in the message header.

  4. In the dropdown menu, tick the checkbox next to VIP and click Save.

icloud mail VIPs

Note that you can also make a sender a VIP by dragging a message from the sender to the VIP folder in the iCloud Mail sidebar.

How to Revoke a Contact's VIP Status in iCloud Mail

  1. In iCloud Mail, select a message from the person whose VIP status you want to remove.

  2. Click the sender's name or email address in the message header.

  3. In the dropdown menu, untick the checkbox next to VIP and click Save.
Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Neutral)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Six Things to Know About Apple's Upcoming Foldable iPhone

Friday March 28, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things. Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...
ipad pro 2024

Gurman: New iPad Pro and MacBook Pro Models With M5 Chips to Launch Later This Year

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:06 am PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPad Pro models with the M5 chip will "launch this year," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the new iPad Pro models have progressed to an "advanced testing" stage, and he expects mass production of the devices to begin in the second half of this year. If that timeframe is met, the new iPad Pro models could launch...

Top Rated Comments

mrzz Avatar
91 months ago
they should pay much more attention to mail app, they've been ignoring it for a long time .. it's ok for a personal usage, but I'm missing some important features for a work related mail handling - especially more advanced text formatting/highlighting, issues with tables, not possibly to schedule emails etc etc. But Apple has been ignoring MacOS as a whole for quite some time (I blame Cook) which is sad
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KSB Avatar
91 months ago
macOS has a limit of 100 VIP, but iOS doesn’t, so you can add 100+ via your iDevice and these will work as will on the macOS mail app. Been using the “trick” for a few years, no problem so far on macOS Sierra.

You can also add VIP to contacts who aren't in your address book on iOS. When you receive an email in the iOS mail app, just click on the email address in the open email and there will appear a window overlay on top. In one of the first fields, you can choose "add to VIP".

Wish apple would remove the limit, since I like using it for important clients
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)