I recently received a notification that my Gmail account is 90% full. I thought this was impossible because Gmail needs to have unlimited storage. Then it occurred to me that I have had the account since 2008 and have never deleted old, unnecessary emails. If you’re in the same (always full) boat, here are the steps on how to bulk delete old emails in Gmail.
Enter “Label: all mail” in the upper search bar and search option filters will appear below the search bar. You can use these drop-down lists to sort emails by timeframe (in my case everything before 2014 since life didn’t start until you were in your mid-20s), specific senders (like a specific newsletter or an organization that you are no longer a member of ) or anything with an attachment (to free up this valuable space).
Once you’ve narrowed down your parameters, click the box in the top left corner to select all of the emails shown. If you have more than 50 emails (which you will do), click “Select all conversations that match this search” so you don’t just delete the emails that appear on the first page of results. Then click the trash can icon.
Gmail keeps the items in the trash for 30 days before they are permanently deleted. If you need the space sooner, you can go to your trash and immediately delete all of the items forever.
