Whilst changing my email account from POP to IMAP I discovered multiple smtp servers listed in the account settings. Most of them were turned off but to keep things neat I wanted to delete the unwanted servers, however when I opened the servers the expected red “delete” button was not there.
These SMTP servers are inherited from other email accounts on the iPhone – and if the selected account send server fails, the email client will try to use an alternate server from the other accounts (an excellent feature as it allows the iPhone to seamlessly send email whether connected via 3G or wifi). But if like me you use your iPhone to test accounts for clients then you soon accumulate a selection of SMTP servers.
So after puzzling for a few minutes on “no delete button” I hit on the idea of editing the smtp server to something more relevant to me – however saving the information after editing with an error in the name meant if failed the verification, I continued and saved the details, on reopening the information the delete button was back. So following that fortunate error I had a plan.
Go to Settings – Mail, Contacts, Calendars
Select an email account where the server you want to delete is not the default send server
Open the account and tap on SMTP Server
Under Other SMTP Servers choose the server you want to delete
Turn the server off
Edit the Host Name to anything
Click Done
On the error message click Save
Close the account – when it is re-opened the Delete Server button will be there
On deleting servers check that all your email accounts still have valid SMTP servers.