How to Mass Delete Emails in Gmail

I recently got a notification that my Gmail account was 90% full. I thought that was impossible since Gmail must have unlimited space. Then I remembered that I’ve had the account since 2008 and have never cleared out old, unnecessary emails. If you are in the same (increasingly full) boat, here are the steps to mass-delete old emails in Gmail.

In the top search bar, type, “Label:all mail”and search option filters will show up below the search bar. You can use these drop-downs to filter emails by time frame (in my case, anything before 2014, since life did not start until my mid-20’s), certain senders (like a particular newsletter or organisation you are no longer a member of), or anything with an attachment (to clear out that valuable storage space).

Once you have your parameters narrowed down, click the box in the top left corner to select all the displayed emails. In the event that you have more than 50 emails (which you will), click “select all conversations that match this search” so you aren’t just deleting the emails displayed on the first page of results. Then click the trash icon.

Gmail will keep the items in the trash for 30 days before permanently deleting. If you need the space sooner, you can go into your trash folder and delete all the items forever right away.