If you’re fed up of having to manage your cluttered Gmail email inboxes, you’re certainly not all on your own. In time, promotional emails or messages that aren’t read, as well as lost conversations may take up a significant amount in space and make it hard to manage your emails efficiently. Fortunately, Gmail offers several easy ways to clean out all your mail and maintain it neat. Below are six easy shortcuts for you to get rid of your Gmail inbox quickly.
1. Delete Emails by Size
One of the quickest methods of removing space is to target emails that have big attachments and messages which occupy an enormous amount of storage.
- Shortcut Shortcut: On the Gmail search bar you can type
larger:10M
to find all messages greater than 10MB. Change the size of the number based on the amount of space you want to be able to clear. - Action Choose these emails to eliminate them in bulk to clear space fast.
2. Filter and Delete Old Emails
Gmail lets you sort and delete old emails which are no longer relevant. This is a great method to clear your inbox of clutter without sifting through every single message.
- Shortcut Search option
older_than:1y
to locate emails that are older than one year. You can alter the duration as necessary (e.g.,older_than:6m
for six months). - Action Action: Choose the email you don’t need anymore and then delete them in the bulk.
3. Resign from Newsletters
Newsletters and subscriptions can swiftly overwhelm your inbox. Gmail makes it simple to track them down and manage them, so that you can stop receiving them.
- Shortcut Search bar enter
the word "label:^unsub" in the search bar
to locate all emails that have the option to unsubscribe. - Action Step 1: Open the emails and click “Unsubscribe,” and delete the messages that are not needed.
4. delete attachments to emails
Attachments, specifically documents and images, take up lots of space. Eliminating unnecessary attachments can make room within the space of your Gmail account.
- Shortcut: Type has:
attachment
on the Google search box to find emails with attachments. - Action Review and remove emails that contain attachments that are not needed anymore. Important attachments can be saved in Google Drive before deleting the emails.
5. Clear the Trash and Spam Folders
Even after you delete emails, they will remain there in the garbage or the Spam folders, and continue to take up space. Clearing these folders makes sure that deleted messages are permanently deleted.
- Shortcut To open the shortcut: Start by opening your Trash or Spam folders, and then select “Empty Trash now” and “Delete all spam messages right now. “
- Step: Ensure that you regularly clear these folders so that you don’t end up the storage of unnecessary emails that were deleted.
6. Archive Emails Instead of Deleting
If you’re not sure about the deletion of certain emails, but you still would like to reduce the clutter in your inbox, then archiving is an excellent alternative. Archived emails are deleted from your inbox, but they are searchable and available.
- Shortcut Choose the email you wish to archive and click the Archive button (or utilize your keyboard shortcut
to e
from your workstation). - Action Maintain your inbox clear while saving important details to refer to later.
Conclusion:
Eliminating your Gmail inbox doesn’t need to be a laborious task. Utilizing these six simple shortcuts, you’ll be able to quickly remove old emails, handle attachments, opt out of newsletters and ensure your inbox is organized. Maintaining your inbox regularly will not only help you save time, but will also enhance your experience managing emails.