Gmail is an email service that is currently among the most appreciated email services in the world with enormous storage capacity and strong search capabilities. But after some period you may find yourself having thousands of old mails, newsletters and offers in your inbox which you do not require any more. Such messages not only occupy precious space, but also make searching for important mails difficult. The better news is that Gmail provides a number of ways to delete old emails be it selectively or deleting large-scale batches of emails.
Here, you will learn how to delete old mail in Gmail step by step, how to create filters in order to keep your inbox clean, and how to manage your storage in order to avoid the storage full reminder at the next occasion.
The Reason to Delete the Old Email in Gmail?
It is common to find many Gmail users who store years of emails without even deleting them. Although the storage capacity of Gmail is 15 GB with Google Drive and Google Photos, this can get consumed very quickly. This is the reason why you might be interested in deleting old emails:
- Clear available storage space to send new emails, photos and files
- Get rid of unwanted junk in your inbox.
- Enhance your Gmail account.
- Lessen the burden of digitization and be more organized.
- It prevents getting missed emails due to a cluttered inbox.
Organizing Gmail is akin to organizing your house. After eliminating the redundant things, you will be able to concentrate on what is important.
Delete Emails by Date
Nevertheless, Gmail is also equipped with an efficient search engine that enables you to filter email messages into the date when you received them. This can prove to be very useful in case you want to delete emails that are older in months or years.
- To delete emails as per the date;
- Open Gmail in your computer Web browser.
- The command in the search bar is something such as:
- older-than:1y – displays emails that are not older than one year.
- older than: six months shows those emails that are older than half a year.
- before:2022/01/01 demonstrates the emails sent before January 1 2022.
- As soon as the results are displayed, a checkbox is presented at the top left to select all the emails on this page.
- You can use the option of selecting all the matching conversations by clicking on the option of selecting all conversations that match this search.
- The trash can icon can be clicked on to delete.
- The technique is rapid and efficient when dealing with big cleanups.
The second method is to delete emails by category.
Gmail can automatically classify the messages into categories which include Primary, Promotions, Social, Updates, and Forums. Old marketing e-mails tend to be found on promotional and social tabs and therefore can be deleted without concern.
- Steps to delete by category:
- Go to Gmail on the desktop.
- Click on the Promotions tab.
- Check all the emails by marking the box at the top-left corner.
- Check the box of Select all conversations in Promotions.
- Click on the trash can to be deleted.
- Do the same with Social, Updates or Forums.
This is one way of getting junk out of your mailbox and having your Primary left intact.
Delete Emails containing large attachments.
There are old emails, which occupy a space due to attaching such documents, images, or videos. Gmail enables you to sort the emails by size.
Steps to delete large emails:
- The search query in the Gmail search box is: larger:10M.
- This displays emails that are bigger than 10 MB.
- Change the figure to your liking i.e. larger:20M to 20 MB or larger.
- Look at the findings to determine whether you would like to erase them.
- Choose and delete to liberate space.
This is one of the best techniques in case your memory is almost full.
automatic deletion using Gmail Filters.
Steps to set up filters:
- Click the gear icon and open Gmail.
- Select “See all settings.”
- Visit the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab.
- Click “Create a new filter.”
- The enter criteria include emails dated before a date, or sent by certain senders.
- Click “Create filter.”
- Select it as the Action of Delete it.
By doing so, old emails or unwanted emails will be automatically deleted on Gmail.
Uninstalled Old Emails on Mobile.
Gmail mobile application lacks the capability of the desktop counterpart though you can still manually delete old emails.
Steps on mobile:
- Start the Gmail application on your phone.
- In the search box, filter terms such as older: 1y can be used.
- Individual emails can be selected by long-pressing an email and then choosing other emails.
- Tap the trash can icon
- Cleaning up a mobile requires more effort, but it can be used in cases of fast maintenance.
will be to use Google Takeout Before Deletion.
There are occasions that you might need to save a copy of your previous emails and delete them finally. Google take out enables you to save and extract your Gmail messages.
Instructions to support with the help of Google Takeout:
- Visit takeout.google.com.
- Choose Gmail (or everything Google that you need to back up).
- Select a file type (mostly ZIP).
- Download the archive file.
- Once a backup has been made, it is safe to delete old emails on Gmail.
This helps in keeping valuable records.
Managing Deleted Emails
You do not necessarily have to do it immediately when you delete emails in Gmail. They instead relocate to the Trash folder where they remain after 30 days automatically deleted. To empty the Trash you can do it yourself, just in case you need to free up some storage.
Steps to empty Trash:
- Open Gmail.
- Go to the Trash button at the left-hand side bar.
- Click “Empty Trash now.”
- This immediately deletes all your emails in your account.
Best practices of deleting old e-mails.
- Begin with mass unsubscribing of newsletters and promotion.
- Filter your conversations to old ones that are no longer relevant.
- In case storage is of primary concern, concentrate on huge attachments.
- It is also important to make a copy of crucial emails prior to deleting them.
- Maximize the space by swamping the Trash.
- It may be advisable to establish filters in order to prevent future spam.
Common Problems and Solutions
- I deleted an important email! Panic a little, then check the Trash folder. If it’s within 30 days, you can recover it.
- Storage does not update after deleting emails: Remember to clear the Trash folder.
- Can’t delete emails on mobile: For advanced search and bulk actions, try using the Gmail desktop site on a browser.
- Deleted emails still searchable: Deleted messages can be located in Trash until they are permanently deleted.
FAQs
Q: Is it possible to delete all Gmail emails at once?
You can by searching in:all, and then selecting all conversations, but be careful as it will delete everything.
Q: Do deleted emails release storage immediately?
Not immediately. They will stay in Trash for 30 days unless you delete them all from the Trash.
Q: Is there a way to have old emails automatically deleted in Gmail?
Yes, using filters with the option to “Delete it.”
Q: Can you retrieve older deleted emails?
After they’ve been permanently deleted (deleted from the Trash for 30 days), they can no longer be recovered.
Q: Will deleting emails have any effect on Google Drive or Photos?
No, but you still have to keep in mind that all those Gmail, Drive and Photos occupy the same 15 GB.
Deletion power of old Gmail mail: It can be useful in the maintenance of inbox unclogged of emails that are unwanted and within size restrictions to which some email services restrict the user. Gmail has a number of features to empty your account whether it is by date, category or size. All you have to do is to save valuable messages before you can delete them in bulk and empty your trash to release space immediately.
And with a healthy email management lifestyle like using filters, deleting spam email and saving data that is important, you will have a clean, quick and efficient Gmail life. And, when properly maintained, you will conserve time and headache in the future to be able to concentrate on something that is important to you.
