Introduction
If you never delete any emails from your inbox, you may be an email hoarder. You tell yourself you may need those emails later…until the time comes, and your inbox becomes a total mess 💥.
We get it—cleaning the inbox can be a boring task. However, you shouldn't wait until you see the dreaded warning that you are running out of storage space and may not be able to send or receive new emails.
If you never needed those emails all these years, it's a sign to say goodbye. Why spend extra on storage when the space is already sitting there?
Dread the process of deleting so many emails? You don't have to delete all of them manually—let the Gmail search operators do their magic.
Follow along as we guide you through the process of deleting old emails in Gmail with clear, step-by-step instructions ✔️
Why You Should Delete Old Emails?
Deleting old emails periodically is a good approach. Here's why you should do it:
✉️ Reduce your inbox clutter
✉️ Free up storage space
✉️ Find emails easily
✉️ Boost speed
✉️ Enhance Productivity
✉️ Reduce security risks (Emails may contain sensitive information)
To Archive or To Delete?
You may not want to delete all the old emails in your inbox, as some of them may be important. For the emails you don't want to delete, you can archive them instead.
What archiving does is remove the email from your inbox, but it doesn't delete it. You can still access the emails from your account. Archived emails don't occupy less space, but they do help in decluttering your inbox.
If you're unsure about the difference between archiving and deleting, check out our full guide on Archive vs. Delete in Gmail.
Sorting Emails From Oldest to Newest in Gmail
Did you know you can sort your emails from oldest to newest in Gmail? Click the email count on the right of the toolbar and select "Oldest". Gmail will then show the oldest emails first.
Surprised to see emails from many, many years back that you never needed to revisit? Imagine the amount of space that can be cleared in your Gmail account by deleting these old emails.
Follow the step-by-step instructions in the following sections on how to do that.
Using Search Filters to Find Old Emails
The first step in deleting old emails in Gmail is to find them. Fortunately, Gmail offers date search operators that can help with that.
Note: Use the Gmail desktop version for mass deleting emails, as the mobile app doesn't have this feature.
Type your search query in the search bar at the top and hit enter. For example,
older_than:1y
The above query returns all emails that have been sitting in your inbox for more than a year.
You can also find emails that were sent or received before a particular date.
before: 01/01/2025
Combining Search Operators
You can also combine operators for a more precise search result.
older_than:6m AND before:01/01/2025
The above query will delete only those emails sent or received before January 1, 2025, that are also older than six months.
category:promotions AND older_than:1m
Returns all promotional emails older than one month.
from:[email protected] AND before:01/01/2025
Retrieves all emails from the email address [email protected] that were received before January 1, 2025.
is:unread AND older_than:6m
Deletes all unread emails older than 6 months.
Selecting and Deleting Old Emails in Gmail
Once you've filtered out all the old emails you want to delete, the next step is to select them and move them to the Trash folder. To bulk-select emails, click the checkbox at the top. This only selects the emails shown on the current page. To select all emails, click "Select all conversations that match this search".
Next, click the "Trash" icon on the toolbar. Confirm the delete action by clicking "Ok".
The time it takes to delete all the selected emails depends on the number and size of emails.
Emptying the Trash
The old emails you deleted in the previous step will not be removed from your account right away. Instead, Gmail moves them to the Trash folder and waits for 30 days before permanently deleting them.
Note: You have 30 days to restore the emails from the Trash folder if you change your mind. After this point, the emails cannot be recovered.
You can manually clear the Trash folder if you urgently need free space in your Gmail account. To do so, navigate to the Trash folder. Click "Empty Trash now" and confirm the deletion.
Automatically Delete Old Emails in Gmail
You may wonder if there's a way to automatically delete emails after a set period of time, so you don't have to repeat the process every few months or years. Currently, Gmail doesn't have such a feature at the time of writing this article.
Gmail filters also cannot help with this because they only apply to incoming emails. However, you can use a Gmail add-on to automatically delete emails after a certain time. Or if you have basic programming knowledge, you can set up an automation script using Google Apps Script that runs periodically and deletes emails older than one year.
Conclusion
Deleting old and unwanted emails can reduce clutter in your inbox and make it more manageable. It also frees up space for new emails. With Gmail search operators, you can quickly find old emails in your account and mass delete them.
Lighten the load on your inbox today and enjoy a clutter-free experience.
