How to clean up Gmail

Is your Gmail account running out of space and would you like to try cleaning up your inbox? Do well, indeed … more! However, if you are here now and you are reading these lines, it seems clear to me that you do not have very clear ideas on how to proceed.

How do you say? The situation is precisely this and would you like to know if I can help you, explaining how to clean Gmail ? Of course yes, do not worry! In fact, if you dedicate a few minutes of your precious time to me, I can explain how to carry out the operation in question by acting both from the Web version of the service and using the official app available for smartphones and tablets.

Then? How about putting the chatter aside and finally starting to get busy? Yup? Great! Position yourself, therefore, comfortable and immediately start to concentrate on reading what is reported below. I am sure that in the end you will be able to say that you are very happy and satisfied with the results obtained. What do you say, we bet?

Index

• Preliminary information
• How to clean Gmail from computer
  • Clean up your Inbox and other folders
  • Clean up spam
  • Empty the trash
• How to clean Gmail from smartphones and tablets
  • Clean up your Inbox and other folders
  • Clean up spam
  • Empty the trash

Preliminary information

Before getting to the heart of the tutorial, going to explain how to clean Gmail , there is some preliminary information that it is my duty to provide you, to allow you to have perfectly clear ideas on what to do.

Let’s start from a fundamental premise: to occupy the Gmail space are the emails and, above all, any attachments present. Consequently, to clean up the inbox, just delete the emails present in the Inbox , Spam , Trash and other folders of the account.

It should be noted that emails and data related to Gmail – unless you configure a client like Outlook or Apple Mail to download emails to your computer, only take up space on the cloud (a bit different is true in the mobile environment, where using the official Gmail app and not an external client, the space occupied by messages is not very much)

In this regard, it is good to keep in mind that the online storage space made available by Google amounts to 15 GB , which would be the basic plan of Google One , the Google cloud storage service that can be used to store, share and synchronize. your data.

To better understand, Google One is the one used for documents on Google Drive , to save / synchronize data from Android apps (e.g. WhatsApp backups ), to save photos / videos on Google Photos (if you choose to archive files in original quality, while archiving in compressed format does not erode free space) and more.

The 15 GB of storage space offered by Google can possibly be expanded, for a fee, by switching to a larger storage plan, namely: Google One 100 GB (costs € 1.99 / month or € 19.99 / year) , Google One 200 GB (costs 2.99 euros / month or 29.99 euros / year) and Google One 2 TB (costs 9.99 euros / month or 99.99 euros per year).

How to clean Gmail from computer

Having made the necessary clarifications above, I would say that we can finally get to the heart of the tutorial and go and find out, therefore, how to clean Gmail by acting from a computer , or using the Web version of the service, accessible from any browser and operating system. Find all the information you need right below.

Clean up your Inbox and other folders

For starters, let’s find out how to clean up Gmail by removing messages from your Inbox and other folders . So, the first move you need to make is to start the browser you usually use to surf the Net from your computer (eg. Chrome ), visit the Gmail home page and log into your account (if necessary) .

Once logged in, you should already find yourself in front of the folder dedicated to the Gmail Inbox. You can easily see this as, in this case, the Main tab is selected at the top of the screen . If not, click on the Inbox item that you find in the left sidebar.

Next, locate the emails you want to delete, move the mouse pointer over them and select the trash can icon you see appear on the right, in order to move it to the trash. You can do the same thing even after opening a message, then after clicking on it in the Inbox, simply by selecting the trash can icon located at the top of the screen displayed.

If you want to delete specific e-mail messages but cannot find them in your inbox, you can carry out a targeted search, using the text field Search in the mail at the top, by typing in the keywords of your interest. and then pressing the Enter key on the keyboard. By clicking on the adjacent down arrow , you can also perform an advanced search, using the appropriate options that you find in the menu that appears.

If you wish, you can also intervene on multiple emails simultaneously, by placing a check mark on the box corresponding to them in the list in the folder dedicated to the Inbox, or on all messages , by checking the box located at the top left , and then pressing the trash can icon located at the top of the screen.

The cleaning operation that I have just described can also be applied to the other sections of the Inbox, namely Social , Promotions , Updates and Forum , by selecting in advance the tab of your interest from the top of the screen. You can do the same in other Gmail folders (e.g. the one for sent messages, the one for drafts, etc.), by accessing the one you are interested in via the left sidebar (if you can’t see a particular folder, expand the list of those available by clicking on the item Other in advance ).

Still on the subject of cleaning, considering that very often Gmail is “flooded” by newsletter subscriptions , you will surely be pleased to know that the Google home e-mail service includes a special function through which you can unsubscribe from those unwanted. To do this, all you have to do is open the email of your interest and click on the Unsubscribe link next to the sender’s name. For more details, you can read my specific guide on how to unsubscribe from advertising emails .

Clean up spam

Now let’s see how to clean Gmail from spam , the section of the Google home mailbox where all the emails considered “junk” or in some way fraudulent accumulate (but where sometimes I mistakenly end up even the “normal” emails). However, please note that messages placed in this folder are automatically deleted after 30 days . Before the expiration of this deadline, however, you can intervene personally, by deleting the spam yourself.

That said, to manually delete spam, first select the Spam item from the left sidebar. Next, to completely empty the section in question, click the Delete all spam messages now link at the top and confirm your intentions by clicking the OK button in the window you see appear on the screen.

If you then want to remove only some messages in the Spam folder, put a check mark in the box next to the emails of your interest and always select the word Delete permanently present at the top of the screen. If you have opened the email in relation to which you wish to intervene, you can do the same by selecting the Delete permanently item that you find in the message screen.

What you were interested in doing was cleaning the spam folder while making sure that one or more messages are not marked as such? Then select or open the emails, proceeding as I have already explained to you, and then click on the wording Not spam present at the top. That’s all.

Empty the trash

Except for permanently deleted spam, all emails removed from Gmail are moved to the trash of the email account and remain there for 30 days , after which they are automatically and permanently deleted from the account. Before the expiry of this period, however, you can still go and manually empty the trash, in order to clean it if necessary.

To empty the Gmail trash, therefore, click on the Other item that you find in the left sidebar of the e-mail service and select the Trash item from the menu that opens. At this point, if you want to completely empty the trash, select the Empty trash now item at the top and confirm your intentions by clicking the OK button in the window you see appear on the screen.

Instead, if you want to delete only some of the messages in the Gmail trash, proceed as follows: put a check mark in the box next to the emails you want to delete and click on the item Delete permanently located at the top left.

How to clean Gmail from smartphones and tablets

Let’s move on to the smartphone and tablet side and let’s find out how to clean Gmail in this case, or using the official app of the email service for mobile devices. To find out more, please continue reading.

Clean up your Inbox and other folders

If you want to find out how to clean Gmail by intervening on the section dedicated to the Inbox and other folders of your interest, first open the Gmail app for Android or iOS / iPadOS and log in to your account (if necessary).

Once logged in, you should already be in front of the Gmail Inbox screen. You can realize this because, in this case, in the upper left part of the display you will find the word Main . If this is not the case, tap the button with the three horizontal lines located at the top left and select the Main item from the menu that appears.

Then, locate the email message you want to delete, tap on it and continue to hold down for a few moments to select it, then touch the trash can icon at the top of the display. If you want, you can also select multiple messages and delete them simultaneously, proceeding in the same way as I have already indicated.

You can delete an e-mail message even after opening it, then after selecting it in the list of those present in the Inbox, simply by tapping on the dustbin icon at the top of the same screen.

Do you want to delete certain emails on your Gmail account but can’t find them? In this case, you can use the text field Search in Mail located at the top of the main screen of the app, by typing in the keywords of your interest and selecting the item Search “keyword” that you see appear.

Keep in mind that the procedure to clean Gmail that I have just indicated can also be performed on the other sections of the Inbox, namely Social , Promotions , Updates and Forum , accessible from the menu that you can recall by pressing the button with the three lines in horizontal located at the top left. The same thing can also be done with other Gmail folders (eg that of sent messages, that of drafts, etc.), by going to the one of your interest always through the app menu.

I also point out that, always acting from the Inbox or other Gmail folders, you can unsubscribe from the newsletters that “crowd” your inbox. To do this, just open the message of your interest, tap on the button with the three dots and then on the Unsubscribe item in the menu that opens.

Clean up spam

Let’s now move on to cleaning the spam folder . Be aware that the messages in this section are automatically removed after 30 days , but if you want you can still get rid of them manually first.

To do this, click on the button with the three horizontal lines that you find in the upper left part of the main Gmail screen and select the Spam item from the menu that appears. Subsequently, tap on the words Empty the Spam folder now (on Android) or on the Empty spam now folder (on iOS / iPadOS) at the top and confirm what your intentions are by tapping on the Empty item (on Android) or on the OK one (on iOS / iPadOS) in the window that opens.

Alternatively, if you are using an iPhone or an iPad, you can intervene individually on the messages, selecting the one or those you want to delete, tapping on them and continuing to hold them down for a few moments, pressing the button (…) at the top right and choosing the item Delete permanently from the menu that opens.

If, on the other hand, what you wanted to do was clean up the spam so that one or more messages are moved to other folders, because they ended up among the “junk” emails by mistake, open the message of your interest, press the button with the three dots located at the top right and choose Report as not spam (on Android) or Not spam (on iOS / iPadOS) from the menu that appears.

Empty the trash

Finally, let’s see how to clean Gmail by emptying the trash , whose messages inside you, keep it in mind, are automatically removed after 30 days . Before the expiry of this term it is however possible to intervene manually.

To perform the operation in question, proceed as follows: tap the button with the three lines horizontally located at the top left of the main screen of the Gmail app, select the Trash item from the menu that appears and then tap the link Empty the Trash Now (on Android) or the Empty Trash Now link (on iOS / iPadOS) at the top. Then confirm what your intentions are, by tapping on the Empty item (on Android) or on the OK one (on iOS / iPadOS) in the window you see appear.

If you are using an iPhone or an iPad, you can also empty the Gmail trash by selecting all the emails in it yourself and proceeding with the removal. To do this, press and continue to hold down for a few moments on the first message, then tap the other emails to select them, touch the button (…) located at the top right and select the item Delete permanently from the menu that appears .

Also from iPhone and iPad, you can permanently delete a message even after opening it, by tapping the (…) button located at the top right of the same and choosing the Delete permanently option from the proposed menu.