As our inboxes get cluttered with messages from various sources, unwanted and irrelevant emails tend to pile up. As a result, it becomes challenging to locate important emails and respond to them on time. Therefore, it’s crucial to delete old emails periodically to keep your Gmail account clean and organized. In this article, we’ll guide you on how to delete old emails in Gmail and organize your inbox efficiently.
Step 1: Select the emails you want to delete
The first step to deleting old emails is selecting the ones you want to get rid of. You can select an entire page of emails at once by clicking the box next to “Primary” above your email list. Alternatively, you can select individual emails by clicking the box next to each email or use the search box to filter by sender, date, or keywords.
Step 2: Delete the select emails
Once you’ve selected the emails you want to delete, you need to click on the trash can icon to delete them. Alternatively, you could use the keyboard shortcut “delete” or “Shift+3”.
Step 3: Empty your trash
Deleting emails only moves them to your trash, where they take up space until you permanently delete them. To free up space on your account, you need to empty your trash regularly. To do this, click on the trash folder, click on “Empty Trash Now” and confirm the prompt that appears.
Step 4: Automate email deletion
Besides deleting old emails manually, you can also automate the process to save time and effort. Gmail allows you to set up filters that automatically delete emails based on specified criteria. For instance, you can set up a filter to delete all emails older than one year from a specific sender or containing specific keywords.
To create a filter, click the “Search” bar at the top of your email list, define the criteria you want to filter, such as sender, keywords, or age, and click on “Create a Filter”. Select the “Delete It” option and click “Create Filter”. This will automatically delete all future emails that match the specified criteria.
In conclusion, deleting old emails from your Gmail account is essential to maintain an organized inbox and free up space on your account. With the four simple steps we’ve outlined, you can quickly get rid of unwanted messages and automate the process to save time and effort. Try adopting these methods and see how they improve your productivity and efficiency.