Tech tip: How to use Gmail to remove emails in bulk

If your Gmail inbox is full again, you’re not alone. Over time, emails from various sources—promotional messages, newsletters, online shopping receipts, bank transaction alerts, and more—pile up, eating away at your available storage. Google provides 15GB of free storage, but this space is shared across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos, making it easy to hit the limit sooner than expected. While purchasing additional storage is an option, it’s not a long-term fix, as new emails continuously fill up the space. The best approach is to clean up your Gmail inbox regularly, but manually deleting emails one by one can be tedious and time-consuming. Fortunately, there are several ways to bulk delete emails and free up valuable storage space efficiently.

Delete All Emails with the 'Unsubscribe' Tag

One of the fastest ways to clean up your inbox is by removing promotional emails, which often include an ‘Unsubscribe’ link at the bottom. These emails can be quickly filtered and deleted in bulk. Follow these steps:

1. Open Gmail in a web browser and go to your Inbox.
2. In the search bar, type Unsubscribe and press Enter. This will display all marketing emails that include an unsubscribe option.
3. Click the small checkbox in the top-left corner, just above the list of emails and next to the refresh button.
4. A notification will appear at the top saying "Select all conversations that match this search." Click on it to select all emails that match your search criteria, not just those on the first page.
5. Click the trash can icon at the top of the screen to move all selected emails to the Trash folder.
6. If you also want to delete emails from the Promotions, Social, or Updates tabs, navigate to those tabs and repeat the same steps.

This method will remove a large number of unwanted emails in just a few clicks, significantly reducing the clutter in your inbox.

Delete Emails from a Specific Sender or Time Period

If you’re receiving frequent emails from a particular sender or want to delete emails from a certain time period, you can use Gmail’s search filters to narrow down your selection. Here’s how:

1. Open Gmail and enter one of the following search queries in the search bar:
   • To delete emails from a specific sender:

     from:sender_email_address
     

   • To delete emails sent to a specific address:

     to:recipient_email_address
     

   • To delete emails from a specific date range:

     after:YYYY-MM-DD before:YYYY-MM-DD
     

     Replace YYYY-MM-DD with your desired dates.
   • To delete unread emails:

     is:unread
     

   • To delete emails with large attachments (which take up the most space):

     larger:10M
     

     This will filter emails with attachments larger than 10MB. You can increase the number to delete even bigger files.
2. Once you’ve entered your search query, click the checkbox in the top-left corner to select all emails.
3. Click "Select all conversations that match this search" to ensure all matching emails (not just the visible ones) are selected.
4. Click the trash can icon to delete them in bulk.

This method is particularly useful for removing large emails and attachments that consume a lot of storage.

Empty the Trash to Permanently Free Up Space

When you delete emails, they are moved to the Trash folder, where they remain for 30 days before being permanently erased. If you need to free up space immediately, you’ll need to empty the trash. Follow these steps:

1. Open Gmail and click on Trash from the left sidebar. If you don’t see it, click on More to expand the menu.
2. At the top of the Trash folder, click "Empty Trash now" to permanently delete all emails in the folder.

Once you do this, the deleted emails will be gone for good, and you’ll instantly free up storage space.

Additional Tips to Keep Your Gmail Inbox Organized

• Regularly unsubscribe from unnecessary emails: Instead of letting promotional emails accumulate, click on the Unsubscribe button at the bottom of unwanted newsletters.
• Use Gmail’s built-in storage manager: Visit Google One Storage (one.google.com/storage) to check which emails and files are consuming the most space.
• Set up filters to automatically delete old emails: You can create Gmail filters to automatically archive or delete certain types of emails as they arrive.

By following these strategies, you can efficiently manage your Gmail storage, keep your inbox organized, and ensure you never run out of space.