• Gmail offers lot of storage to hold thousands of emails, but you might still need to bulk delete gmail emails to have a clean mailbox and save storage for the emails that matter.
  
  
• In this detailed blog post, you would find multiple ways to search and delete Gmail emails (in bulk) that are no more important to you.

• Should You Delete Gmail Emails?
• Delete All Gmail Emails at Once
• Delete Gmail Emails based on Sender
• Delete Gmail Emails based on Recipients
• Delete Gmail Emails based on Content
• Delete Emails based on Gmail Categories
• Delete Gmail Emails based on Status
• Delete Gmail Emails based on Size
• Delete Gmail Emails based on Date Range
• Delete Gmail Emails based on File Type
• Delete Gmail Emails based on Labels
• RECOMMENDED READING
• How to find archived emails in gmail?
• Complete Guide to recover deleted Gmail emails
• Gmail Filter to Organize Emails coming from Groups

Should You Delete Gmail Emails?

Before we even talk about different criteria to narrow down to only the emails you want to delete, let us answer a few preliminary questions.

• Should we really be deleting emails from our Gmail mailbox?
• What exactly happens when we delete emails in Gmail?
• Is there any alternate to delete emails?

Gmail Deletion Impact
When you delete gmail emails, they go to your Trash label and stay there for 30 days (unless you go to Trash and empty it), but once they are permanently deleted from Trash label, there is no way to recover them (unless you are Google Workspace User).

So let’s be careful while deleting emails………

Delete vs Archive in Gmail
If your inbox looks messy with lots of emails, and all you need is to clean it up, you may consider using “Archive” in Gmail.

Once you archive an email, it moves from your Inbox and goes to “All Mails” label.

Purchasing Additional Storage
If you are not sure whether you should be deleting your emails OR which ones should you delete, you may also consider option of buying additional storage.

You can look at your existing storage consumption along with an option to purchase additional storage here https://drive.google.com/settings/storage

Additional storage is applied to your Gmail + Google Drive + Google Photos.

Move to Google Workspace
If you are using a consumer Gmail account, you may also consider moving to Google Workspace, though it costs you a bit ($6/user/month for basic plan), but it does offer some additional features including :

• 30 GB of Storage (vs 15 GB in personal email).
• Email on your own domain (e.g yourname@yourbrand.com).
• You / Your company own the data.
• Additional Security & Controls.

Ok….. so I am done with highlighting your options, if neither of them fit your use case, and you really want to delete emails from your Gmail…..

Absolutely, let’s do it…………

Delete All Gmail Emails at Once

Deleting “All” your Gmail emails is pretty straight forward, if you are sure to delete them all, this is what you should do :

1. From your Gmail Inbox, click on the checkbox to select all emails, by default it would select the emails on page 1.
2. Click on “Select all ….. conversations in inbox” as shown in the screenshot below.

This would select all the emails in your Gmail inbox.

1. You should see a note from Gmail that all your ……. conversations in inbox are selected.
   
   
2. Now click on Trash can icon as shown in the screenshot below.

1. Gmail would like you to confirm that you really want to take this bulk action.
   
   
2. Click OK to delete all Gmail emails at once

If everything goes fine, you would see a message “No new emails”.

Hurray…….. your Gmail inbox should now be empty, let me know in comments how you feel:)

BTW – I wish it was that easy to lose some pounds too:(

1. All your deleted emails can be found in Gmail Bin as you see in the screenshot below, you have an option to move them back to Inbox (just in case).
   
   
2. These would be deleted automatically after 30 days, but you also have an option to empty your bin and delete all of them permanently.

Delete Gmail Emails based on Sender

If you want to delete Gmail emails that came from a specific sender,  you can use following to first search these emails, and then delete all of them at once.

Synax: from:sender’semail address

For example, I want to delete all the emails that I received from noreply@okta.com, so my filter would be :

from: noreply@okta.com

If you want to delete Gmail emails that came from from either of the specific senders,  you can use the “OR” operator to first search these emails, and then delete all of them at once.

Syntax: from:senderoneemailaddress OR sendertwoemailaddress

For example, I want to delete all the emails that I received from either noreply@okta.com OR o365su17@microsoft.com, so my filter would be :

from: noreply@okta.com OR o365su17@microsoft.com

If you want to delete all of your Gmail emails except the ones which came from a specific sender, then you use the NOT operator as shown below :

Syntax: -senderemail (You can either use NOT or the – sign, I prefer the – sign).

For example, I want to delete all the emails except the ones that I received  from  o365su17@microsoft.com, so my filter would be :

-o365su17@microsoft.com

If you want to delete all of your Gmail emails except the ones which came from multiple specific senders, then you can combine the NOT and AND operators as shown below :

Syntax: -sendereonemail AND -sendertwoemail

For example, I want to delete all the emails except the ones that I received  from   o365su17@microsoft.com and from noreply@okta.com, so my filter would be :

-o365su17@microsoft.com AND -noreply@okta.com

If you want to delete Gmail emails that came from a specific domain name,  you can use following filter to first search these emails, and then delete all of them at once.

Syntax: from:domainname

For example, I want to delete all the emails that I received from amazon.com, so my filter would be :

from: amazon.com

but what if you want to delete all emails from a specific domain except one sender from that domain?

You can use the NOT operator to exclude emails from that specific sender.

Syntax: from:domain.com -sender@domain.com

For example, I want to delete all the emails that I received okta.com except the ones from hello@okta.com, so my filter would be :

from: okta.com -hello@okta.com

You can also delete emails from multiple domains by using the OR operators with the domain names to first search these emails, and then delete all of them at once.

Syntax: from:domain1 OR domain2 OR domain3

For example, I want to delete all the emails that I received either from amazon.com OR microsoft.com OR okta.com, so my filter would be :

from: amazon.com OR microsoft.com OR okta.com

There might be cases where you want to delete emails from multiple domains with an exception.

For e.g I want to delete all emails that I received either from amazon.com OR microsoft.com OR okta.com, but not the ones which has the term action needed

I can search for it with the following criteria :

from: amazon.com OR microsoft.com OR okta.com -“action needed”

If you have successfully searched all the emails based on your sender criteria :

1. You can select these emails by clicking on email selection checkbox as shown in the screenshot below.
   
   
2. By default, checkbox would select the emails on first page, click on “Select all conversations that match this search” to select all emails.

1. Now click on Trash icon, Gmail wants you to be sure before performing this bulk action.
   
   
2. Click OK to delete all of your emails in Gmail based on your criteria.

Delete Gmail Emails based on Recipients

In this section, let us look at the various searches we can perform to filter out emails based on the recipients including :

1. Sent to me where am in either TO or CC or BCC or group/list.
2. I am in CC
3. I am in BCC
4. I am in group list
5. I sent it to a specific recipient
6. I sent it to multiple recipients

If you want to delete Gmail emails that you received where the sender had you in TO.

Syntax: to:me

You can also use your email address (e.g to:youremail@gmail.com or youremail@yourdomain.com

If you want to delete all emails in Gmail where you are in CC, you can use the following search

Syntax: cc:me

If you want to delete all emails in Gmail where you are in BCC, you can use the following search

Synax: bcc:me

If you want to delete all emails in Gmail where you are either in CC OR BCC, you can use the following search

Syntax: cc:me OR bcc:me

If you want to delete all emails in Gmail which you received because you are a member of the group, you can use the following search

Syntax: list:groupemail

For eg. – If I want to search for all emails that I received being a member of sales@goldyarora.com, then my filter would be

list:sales@goldyarora.com

If you have successfully searched all the emails based on your recipient criteria :

1. You can select these emails by clicking on email selection checkbox as shown in the screenshot below.
   
   
2. By default, checkbox would select the emails on first page, click on “Select all conversations that match this search” to select all emails.

1. Click on Trash icon, Gmail wants you to be sure before performing this bulk action.
   
   
2. Click OK to delete all of your emails in Gmail based on your criteria.

Delete Gmail Emails based on Content

If you want to delete all emails in Gmail which have specific phrase in the subject line, , you can use the following search :

Syntax: subject:”your phrase”

For eg. – If I want to search for all emails with which have “App password created” in the email subject, then my filter would be :

subject:”App password created”

If you want to delete all emails in Gmail which have specific phrase any where in the email content, you can use the following search

Syntax: “your phrase”

For eg. – If I want to search for all emails with which have “invited to the class” any where in the email content, then my filter would be :

“invited to the class”

If you want to delete all emails in Gmail which have specific phrase in the subject line but with an exception phrase, you can use the following search :

Syntax: “your phrase” -“phrase to exclude”

For eg. – If I want to search for all emails which have “invited you to the class” except the ones where email content has “work from home training”, then my filter would be :

“invited you to the class” -“work from home training”

You can also combine the operators for granular searches, so if you want to delete all emails in Gmail which have specific words in the email content except some words, you can use the following search :

Syntax: wordtoinclude AND secondwordtoinclude -wordtoexclude

For eg. – If I want to search for all emails which have calendar AND invited in the email content but not the ones where am not in TO, then my filter would be :

calendar AND invited -to:me

If you have successfully searched all the emails based on your email content criteria :

1. You can select these emails by clicking on email selection checkbox as shown in the screenshot below.
2. By default, checkbox would select the emails on first page, click on “Select all conversations that match this search” to select all emails.

1. Click on Trash icon, Gmail wants you to be sure before performing this bulk action.
   
   
2. Click OK to delete all of your emails in Gmail based on your criteria.

Delete Emails based on Gmail Categories

You can also delete all (or some) of your emails based on Gmail categories, you can learn more about Gmail categories in Google’s support documentation here

Syntax to find emails in single category category:categoryname

Syntax to find emails in multiple categories category:(categoryname OR categoryname)

For eg. – If I want to search for all emails in either promotions OR forums OR updates category, then my filter would be :

category:(promotions OR forums OR updates)

If you want to search and delete all Gmail emails except the ones in primary category, then you can use the NOT operator as following:

Syntax to find all emails except the ones in primary category -category:categoryname

For eg. – If I want to search for all emails except the ones in primary category, then my filter would be :

-category:primary

If you need to search and delete in multiple categories except one, you can use NOT operator.

Syntax to find emails in multiple categories with a category to exclude

category:(categoryname OR categoryname) -category:categoryname

For eg. – If I want to search for all emails in either promotions OR forums OR updates category, but not the ones in updates category, then my filter would be :

category:(promotions OR forums OR updates) -category:updates

Delete Gmail Emails based on Status

Delete All Unread emails in Gmail

If you need to search and delete all unread emails in Gmail, you can use is:unread to filter these emails.

Syntax to find all unread emails in Gmail is:unread

Delete All read emails in Gmail

If you need to search and delete all read emails in Gmail, you can use is:read to filter these emails.

Syntax to find all read emails in Gmail is:read

Delete All unread emails in Gmail from a specific sender

If you need to search and delete all unread emails in Gmail from a specific sender, you can use AND operator in combination with is:unread to filter these emails.

Syntax to find all unread emails from a specific sender in Gmail from:sender AND is:read

Delete All emails in Gmail which are marked as imporant

If you need to search and delete all emails in Gmail which are marked as imporant, you can use is:important to filter these emails.

Syntax to find all unread emails in Gmail is:important

Syntax to find all emails in Gmail which are not marked as important -is:important

Delete All starred emails in Gmail

If you need to search and delete all starred emails in Gmail, you can use is:starred to filter these emails.

Syntax to find all starred emails in Gmail is:starred

Syntax to find all emails in Gmail which are not starred -is:starred

If you have successfully searched all the emails based on your email status criteria :

1. You can select these emails by clicking on email selection checkbox as shown in the screenshot below.
2. By default, checkbox would select the emails on first page, click on “Select all conversations that match this search” to select all emails.

1. Click on Trash icon, Gmail wants you to be sure before performing this bulk action.
   
   
2. Click OK to delete all of your emails in Gmail based on your criteria.

Delete Gmail Emails based on Size

Delete All emails in Gmail based on the size

If you need to search and delete all emails in Gmail based on their size, you can use the larger & smaller operators (along with combining it with other operators for granular searches).

Syntax to find all emails larger than a certain size larger:size

Gmail supports (i) Bytes (ii) KB / Kilobyte and (iii) MB / Megabyte

So if I want to search and delete all emails larger than 1 MB, then my search filter would be-:

larger:1M

Syntax to find all emails smaller than a certain size smaller:size

So if I want to search and delete all emails smaller than 1 MB, then my search filter would be-:

smaller:1M

You can also use the user interface in Gmail to find such emails.

You can also use AND (or other operators) to find emails between sizes.

So if I want to search and delete all emails larger than 1 MB and smaller than 2 MB, then my search filter would be-:

larger:1M AND smaller:2M

You can also delete heavy emails which have attachments by combining attachment and size operators :

Syntax to find all emails with attachments, and larger than a certain size has:attachment larger:size

So if I want to search and delete all emails with attachments which are larger than 1 MB in size, then my search filter would be-:

has:attachment larger:1M

You can also delete heavy emails with specific file type attachments by combining attachment, filename, and size operators :

Syntax to find all emails with specific attachment type, and larger than a certain size has:attachment larger:size filename:fileextension

So if I want to search and delete all emails with pdf attachments and larger than 1 MB in size, then my search filter would be-:

has:attachment larger:1M filename:pdf

If you have successfully searched all the emails based on your email size criteria :

1. You can select these emails by clicking on email selection checkbox as shown in the screenshot below.
   
   
2. By default, checkbox would select the emails on first page, click on “Select all conversations that match this search” to select all emails.

1. Click on Trash icon, Gmail wants you to be sure before performing this bulk action.
   
   
2. Click OK to delete all of your emails in Gmail based on your criteria.

Delete Gmail Emails based on Date Range

If you want to delete all Gmail emails based on the date range, you can use the before and after date operators.

Syntax to find all emails before a certain date

before:YYYY/MM/DD

So if I want to search and delete all emails before May 12 2020, my filter would be-:

before:2019/05/12

Syntax to find all emails after a certain date

after:YYYY/MM/DD

So if I want to search and delete all emails after May 12 2019, my filter would be-:

after:2019/05/12

You can also find emails between a certain date range by using before and after operators together.

Syntax to find all emails between a certain date range
after:YYYY/MM/DD before:YYYY/MM/DD

So if I want to search and delete all emails between May 12 2019 and May 12 2020, my filter would be-:

before:2020/05/12 after:2019/05/12

You can also use the before / after operators in combination with other operators to find the emails you want to delete.

For e.g – If I want to search and delete all emails that I sent to support@okta.com which have attachment/s, larger than 1MB in size, and sent before April 12 2020, then my search filter would be:

to:support@okta.com before:2020/04/12 has:attachment larger:1M

If you have successfully searched all the emails based on your date range criteria :

1. You can select these emails by clicking on email selection checkbox as shown in the screenshot below.
   
   
2. By default, checkbox would select the emails on first page, click on “Select all conversations that match this search” to select all emails.

1. Click on Trash icon, Gmail wants you to be sure before performing this bulk action.
   
   
2. Click OK to delete all of your emails in Gmail based on your criteria.

Delete Gmail Emails based on File Type

Gmail has the filename operator which can help you find and delete all emails with a certain file type extension.

Syntax-: filename:fileextension

For e.g – If I want to search and delete all pdf emails, then my search filter would be:

filename:pdf

Similarly, you can find all png files with the filter filename:png

You can also combine the filename operator with other operators to find the emails you need to delete.

So if I want to search and delete all pdf, png and xlsx files, then I can use the OR operator along with filename as following-:

filename:pdf OR png OR xlsx

Usually the video attachment files take large space, you can find and delete such emails by using the filename and larger than operators together.

filename:mp4 larger:5M

Gmail also has operators to find Google Drive files, so you can search the Drive links and attachments.

Syntax: has:drive

You can similarly find all spreadsheet files which would include Google or Microsoft spreadsheet files and/or links.

Syntax: has:spreadsheet

There is also has:youtube operator which can help you find and delete all emails which have youtube link.

Syntax: has:youtube

If you have Google Workspace Enterprise subscription, and record your Google Meet meetings, you get notification in Gmail once your meeting recording is available in Google Drive.

These files have GMT-7) in their title, which can be leveraged to find these recording file emails.

Filter: has:drive GMT-7)

If you have successfully searched all the emails based on your file type criteria :

1. You can select these emails by clicking on email selection checkbox as shown in the screenshot below.
   
   
2. By default, checkbox would select the emails on first page, click on “Select all conversations that match this search” to select all emails.

1. Finally, Click on Trash Icon, Gmail wants you to be sure before performing this bulk action.
   
   
2. Click OK to delete all of your emails in Gmail based on your criteria.

Delete Gmail Emails based on Labels

If you need to find and delete all or some Gmail emails in specific label, then you can use the label operator.

Syntax: in:labelname

You can also search in multiple labels by using the label and OR operators together.

You can combine Gmail search operators to find the emails that you really need to delete-:

If you have successfully searched all the emails based on your Gmail label criteria :

1. You can select these emails by clicking on email selection checkbox as shown in the screenshot below.
   
   
2. By default, checkbox would select the emails on first page, click on “Select all conversations that match this search” to select all emails.

1. Finally, click on Trash Icon, Gmail wants you to be sure before performing this bulk action.
   
   
2. Click OK to delete all of your emails in Gmail based on your criteria.