How to Mass Delete Emails on Gmail – Regain Control of Your Gmail

Even individuals with excellent organizational skills may need assistance streamlining their inboxes when they become overly cluttered. With Gmail being a prominent email client, an unchecked inbox can accumulate hundreds or thousands of emails.

Google offers a straightforward method to mass delete emails on the web across various devices, including some of the top Chromebooks. You can efficiently clear your inbox and begin anew with just a few clicks.

Here’s a guide on how to mass delete emails on Gmail and regain control of your inbox.

How to Mass Delete Emails on Gmail

If your inbox is overflowing with useless messages, use Gmail’s bulk delete features to clear it all out swiftly.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to delete emails from your Gmail Inbox:

• Step 01: Sign in to your email account.
• Step 02: Navigate to the Inbox folder.
• Step 03: Locate a checkbox at the top of the list of emails; clicking it will select all messages on that page.

• Step 04: Click the ‘Select all [number] messages in Inbox’ option.
• Step 05: With all inbox emails now selected, click the Trash Bin icon at the top of the email list.

All previous messages in your inbox are now in the Trash folder. If you’re certain that you won’t need to recover deleted Gmail emails, you have two options:

a. Go to the Trash folder and click the ‘Empty Trash now’ option to delete them permanently.

b. Alternatively, you can let Gmail automatically empty the Trash folder after 30 days, sparing you the manual cleanup.

How to Mass Delete Specific Emails on Gmail

Gmail makes it easy to perform mass deletions based on specific criteria, such as categories, read status, date, sender, or email size.

In this section, I’ll show you how to delete:

1. All emails in the ‘Promotions’ category.
2. All unread messages.
3. Emails older than a specific date.
4. All or multiple emails from a single sender.
5. Messages larger than a specific size.

Now, let’s explore these common scenarios!

How to Mass Delete Emails in the ‘Promotions’ Category

• Step 01: Sign in to your Gmail account.
• Step 02: Navigate to the ‘Promotions’ category.
• Step 03: In the top-left corner of the email list, click the checkbox to select all the emails on the current page.

• Step 04: Click the ‘Select all [number] conversations in Promotions’ option.
• Step 05: With all the messages selected, click the Trash Bin icon to delete them.

How to Mass Delete All Unread Emails on Gmail

Here’s a guide on how to delete all unread messages in your Gmail:

• Step 01: Sign in to your email account.
• Step 02: In the search bar, enter “is:unread” and press Enter.
• Step 03: Click the top checkbox to select all the unread emails on the current page.

• Step 04: Select the ‘Select all messages that match this search’ option.
• Step 05: Finally, click the Trash bin icon to delete all the unread Gmail emails you no longer require.

How to Mass Delete Old Emails on Gmail

To perform a mass deletion of emails in Gmail based on their age, follow these steps:

• Step 01: Sign in to your Gmail inbox.
• Step 02: In the search bar, input “before:YYYY/M/D” (replace YYYY/M/D with the specific date, e.g., 2022/2/22) and press Enter.
• Step 03: Select the top checkbox to mark all the emails displayed on the current page.

• Step 04: Click on the ‘Select all messages that match this search’ option.
• Step 05: Finally, click the Trash bin icon to dispose of the emails that are no longer necessary promptly.

How to Mass Delete All or Multiple Emails from a Specific Sender on Gmail

Here’s how you can delete all or multiple emails from a specific sender in your mailbox:

• Step 01: Access your email inbox by logging in.
• Step 02: If you wish to delete emails from a particular sender, enter their email address or name in the search bar and hit Enter.
• Step 03: Select the top checkbox to choose all emails that match your search.

• Step 04: If you want to select all conversations from this sender, click the ‘Select all conversations that match this search’ option.
• Step 05: To delete the chosen messages, click on the Trash Bin icon.

How to Mass Delete Large Email in Gmail by Size

Here’s a guide on how to mass delete large emails in Gmail by size:

• Step 01: Open your inbox and locate the search bar at the top.
• Step 02: In the search bar, enter “larger:4M” (without quotes) to search for emails larger than 4MB. You can adjust the number as per your preference.
• Step 03: Gmail will present a list of emails that meet the size criteria. Choose the messages you wish to delete. You can either select them individually by clicking the checkbox beside each message or select all by clicking the top checkbox.

• Step 04: Finally, click the Trash bin icon to move them to the Trash folder.

As you can see, learning how to mass delete Gmail emails is easy based on specific criteria, such as size. Remember to empty the Trash folder to reclaim valuable storage space, regardless of the type of messages you clean up.

How to Bulk Delete Gmail Emails on Android and iPhone

Regrettably, the Gmail mobile app doesn’t offer the same bulk email deletion capabilities as its web counterpart. While it doesn’t allow selecting all messages in a folder simultaneously, you can still delete multiple emails in the Gmail app by selecting them individually.

Here’s how to perform mass deletions in the Gmail app:

For Android and iOS Devices:

• Step 01: Open the Gmail mobile app on your Android or iOS device.
• Step 02: Navigate to your Inbox or any folder where you want to remove messages.
• Step 03: Tap the thumbnail to the left of each message you wish to delete.
• Step 04: After selecting the messages, tap the Trash Bin icon to delete them.

• Step 05: Remember to empty the Bin folder to free up storage space occupied by the recently deleted messages.

 

Additional Tip for iPhone Users – Using Swipe:

For those using an iPhone, you can employ the ‘Swipe’ feature for quick, one-by-one deletions:

• Step 01: Tap the three-lined settings icon at the top-left corner.
• Step 02: Scroll down to locate and select “Settings.”
• Step 03: Find the “Inbox customizations” option and tap it.
• Step 04: Choose “Email swipe actions” from the list.
• Step 05: Pick your preferred direction for deleting emails – ‘Right swipe’ or ‘Left swipe.’
• Step 06: Select “Bin” from the list that appears next.
• Step 07: Click “Done” and return to your inbox. Swiping in the chosen direction will send your messages to the Trash.

The process on Android is similar to that on iPhone. Navigate to ‘Settings,’ choose ‘General settings,’ then select ‘Mail swipe actions.’ From there, you can customize the actions for a left or right swipe, including the option to delete emails.

Due to the limitations of the Gmail mobile app for bulk email deletion, the Clean Email app is a more robust alternative. Available for both iOS and Android, it offers greater flexibility and functionality for managing your inbox on the go.

Important Considerations When Mass Deleting Emails on Gmail

When it comes to deleting your Gmail emails, there are a few additional factors to bear in mind:

1. Deleted Emails Aren’t Immediately Removed: When you delete emails, they don’t vanish from your Gmail account immediately. Instead, they are transferred to your Trash folder and remain there for up to 30 days before Gmail automatically removes them. If you’re comfortable with this, there’s no further action required. However, if you have sensitive information in your emails, visit the Trash folder and manually delete them permanently before the 30-day period expires.
2. Review Your Emails Before Deletion: It’s advisable to review your old emails before initiating the deletion process. This quick scan can help prevent accidentally deleting essential messages from your inbox.

FAQ

Conclusion

Hopefully, you are now well aware of the methods about how to mass delete emails on Gmail.

Email plays a vital role in our daily routines. It encompasses everything from financial statements and client interactions to marketing materials, causing our inboxes to overflow more rapidly than ever.

For most, performing a single bulk email deletion is far more efficient, sparing daily concerns. Following the instructions above, you can swiftly restore order to your Gmail inbox, reducing stress and increasing productivity.