I really prefer to handle email on the desktop. But iOS seems to think it is helping by turning itself on and downloading mail when it wants. A couple times a day. This is while the phone is sitting dark, or maybe even on the charger.

Surely there is a setting I am missing. This did not happen before iOS 12. Once again Tim Cook is helping!

Did you try setting "Check new messages" to "Manually" in Mail preferences?

‘Settings>Passwords and Accounts>Fetch New Data’ on my phone.

....turn off 'fetching' automatically.....and use 'manual'.........

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!

I've experienced this as well, everything is set to manual for mail, but every night while on the charger it will fetch mail on its own. Never during the day, only at night while on the charger at the same time that it checks for app updates.

Why not just set new mail sound to none? Settings>Sounds & Haptics>Sounds and Vibration Patterns

It is set to manual. Yet, as Golfer says, it still pings and downloads.

For the accounts with POP, it has all the messages even if I have already deleted them on the desktop. After a few days I have hundreds of spam messages. If I really want to use mail (when I am mobile), I have to wade through all the spam and delete it.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions.

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numbered
It is set to manual. Yet, as Golfer says, it still pings and downloads.

For the accounts with POP, it has all the messages even if I have already deleted them on the desktop. After a few days I have hundreds of spam messages. If I really want to use mail (when I am mobile), I have to wade through all the spam and delete it.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions.

If you want message status (and deletes) to sync a cross devices, you need to use IMAP.