How to Delete All Emails in Gmail (Bulk Delete)

Gmail shares up to 15 GB of free storage with Google Drive and Google Photos. Google says that when your account reaches its limit, you can’t send or receive email in Gmail. Clearing out old email is one way to get under the limit.

Delete all emails in Gmail on a computer

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   Step 1: Pick a folder

   Go to Gmail in a browser and choose a folder or tab, for example Inbox, Promotions or All mail.

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   Step 2: Select the page

   Above your messages, check the Select box. This selects only the conversations on the current page.

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   Step 3: Select everything

   In the notice above your messages, click the link to select all conversations, for example “Select all 2,000 conversations in Inbox.”

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   Step 4: Delete

   Click Delete at the top. Everything moves to Trash.

Bulk delete only what you choose with search

Type a search in the Gmail search bar, then use the same Select box and the select-all link in the notice. These search operators from Google’s list are useful for a clean-up:

• older_than:1y — emails older than a year (use d, m or y for days, months or years)
• larger:10M — emails bigger than 10 MB
• category:promotions or category:social — a whole inbox tab
• from:news@example.com — everything from one sender (see Gmail sort by sender)
• has:attachment — emails with attachments

Delete emails in bulk in the Gmail app on iPhone

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   Step 1: Start selecting

   Open the Gmail app and touch and hold a message.

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   Step 2: Select all

   At the top left, tap the box next to Select all. Google says this selects up to 50 messages.

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   Step 3: Delete and repeat

   Tap Delete. For the next 50, scroll to the top and tap Select all again.

Searching first (for example older_than:1y) narrows the list, but the app still works in batches of 50. For thousands of emails, use Gmail in a browser.

Empty the Trash to free storage

Deleted emails stay in Trash for up to 30 days, then they’re permanently deleted. Google’s short-term fix for a full account is to empty Trash and Spam; you can empty Spam the same way.

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   Step 1: On a computer

   Click More › Trash on the left, then click Empty Trash now in the notice at the top.

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   Step 2: In the iPhone app

   Tap Menu › Trash, then tap Empty trash now at the top.

CleanX

Clear Gmail from your iPhone with CleanX

Sign in with Google and CleanX shows who fills your inbox: each sender from the latest 2,000 emails in your inbox, with their number of emails and the space they take, largest first. Tick a Gmail category such as Promotions, set filters such as older than 1 year (starred emails are kept by default), and CleanX moves the matching emails in that category to Trash in one go. Emails go to Gmail’s Trash, where you can restore them for 30 days.

• Senders sorted by size, plus Gmail categories with filters
• Unsubscribe from senders’ mailing lists
• Scanning is free; moving to Trash and unsubscribing need CleanX Pro

See everything CleanX does →

Before you delete all your email

• Drafts are different: Google says a deleted draft can’t be recovered from Trash.
• Emptying Trash is final. After that, or after 30 days, deleted emails can’t be recovered.
• Don’t ignore a full account: Google says that if you’re over your storage quota for 2 years, it might delete content across Gmail, Drive and Photos.
• Phone storage is separate from Google storage: for the iPhone side, see how to free up space on iPhone.