How to delete emails in bulk in Gmail
The trick is to let search do the work. Search for exactly the emails you want gone, select all of them in one click, and delete. Here are the searches that clear the most space.
On a computer, search for the emails (for example category:promotions older_than:1y), tick Select, click the link to select all conversations, then click Delete. Deleted emails stay in Trash for 30 days; empty Trash if you need the space back now.
Step by step
- Open Gmail on a computer. (The app selects about 50 at a time.)
- Type a search from the table below into the search bar and press Enter.
- Scroll through the first page to check nothing important is caught.
- Tick the Select box, then click the link that selects all conversations matching the search.
- Click the Delete (bin) icon and confirm.
Very large deletions can take a little while to finish. Leave the tab open until they do.
Searches that clear the most
| To delete | Search for |
|---|---|
| Promotions older than a year | category:promotions older_than:1y |
| Social notifications | category:social |
| Everything from one sender | from:[email protected] |
| Emails with big attachments | larger:10M |
| Everything before a date | before:2022/01/01 |
| Newsletters you never opened | unsubscribe is:unread older_than:6m |
| Old mail you read and never starred | older_than:2y -is:starred -is:important |
A minus sign excludes things, so -is:starred protects anything you starred.
Get the storage back
Deleted emails stay in Trash for 30 days and still count toward your storage. To free space now, open Trash and click Empty Trash now. Your free 15 GB is shared between Gmail, Google Drive and Google Photos, so check Drive too if space is still tight.
Stop it filling up again
- Unsubscribe from newsletters you deleted unread: Gmail often shows an Unsubscribe link next to the sender's name.
- Create a filter that labels or deletes future mail from that sender. See Gmail labels and filters.
Questions people ask
- How do I delete all emails from one sender in Gmail?
- Search for
from:and their address, tick Select, click the link to select all conversations, then Delete. - How do I delete all emails at once in Gmail?
- Open All Mail, tick Select, click the link to select all conversations in All Mail, then Delete. Check carefully first: this removes everything.
- Can I get bulk-deleted emails back?
- Yes, for 30 days. Open Trash, select them and use Move to Inbox. After 30 days, or once Trash is emptied, they are gone.
Sending one email to a whole list? Check the addresses first with Veml, which removes bad and risky emails before you hit send. (Veml and EmailNa have the same owner.)