It is more than common for your Gmail inbox to fill up with unread messages that have accumulated over time. The resulting problem is that other Google applications may start to slow down due to lack of space, so it is worth doing some cleaning. However, it is not advisable to delete them all at once, as you could remove important information.
That is why Gmail offers free tools that allow you to consciously empty your inbox. On one hand, it advises you to locate and delete emails that have large attachments as well as old ones that are no longer valuable. On the other hand, you can delete all those that are promotions or subscriptions with just one click, and above all, don’t forget to empty the trash!
Gmail storage
Sometimes it can be difficult to keep up with all the emails that arrive each day, so they tend to accumulate in our inboxes. It’s no surprise that you received a notification from your Gmail warning you about the lack of space since your inbox is completely full. Don’t worry, it happens to many of us. However, it’s a good idea to get things organized, as this reduction in capacity will eventually affect the other Google applications linked to your email account. That’s why Gmail offers efficient and very useful tools and tricks for cleaning up your inbox, which prevent you from having to go through the thousands of pending emails one by one.
- Emails with large attachments. These types of emails take up the most storage space, making them the primary target, as they contain videos, presentations, PDFs, or high-resolution images. To find them, go to the Gmail search bar, type the command has:attachment, and then sort the results by size. Once located, you can select the ones that are not of interest and delete them.Old emails. Often, we keep old emails that are no longer useful. To find them, you should use the command before:YYYY/MM/DD in the search bar, and emails before a specific date will appear. For example, before:2021/01/01 will show everything received before 2021.
- Promotions and subscriptions. We receive many emails from store subscriptions, newsletters, and social networks that can be removed by accessing the “Promotions” or “Social” tabs and deleting large amounts of messages in just a few clicks. Another option is to search for emails that include words like “unsubscribe” or “Unsubscribe” using this command: “unsubscribe” OR Unsubscribe.
- Empty the trash. It is important that after deleting emails you also empty the Trash, as Gmail keeps those messages for 30 days and they still take up storage.
- Frequently asked questions
How can I quickly find the heaviest emails?
Use the has:attachment command in the search bar. This will filter messages with large files, like videos or PDFs, which are the ones that really take up your storage.
What is the best way to delete old emails?
Use the before:YYYY/MM/DD command (for example, before:2021/01/01). This way you’ll instantly locate all emails from previous years that you no longer need.
Why don’t I recover space right after deleting?
Because Gmail moves emails to the Trash and keeps them there for 30 days. To free up space immediately, you need to go into the Trash folder and empty it manually.
