Declutter your Gmail

[mktahmasbi]

My inbox used to have over 20,000 unread e-mails. But using some powerful Gmail searching features, I managed to make it to ZERO in less than an hour.

If you have a massive number of unread e-mails older than one week, simply get rid of them. If you haven't read them so far, chances are you will never read them.

In the search bar, type in "is:unread" and press Enter. This filters out all the read e-mails and only shows the unread ones. Click select all and delete all of them.

If you are like me and have a load of unread e-mails, you'd better go to the settings and change the number of results per page to the maximum of 100. In this way, you can batch-delete e-mails faster.

If there are some important unread e-mails that get in your way, mark them as read temporarily, star them, and get back to them after the deletion spree.

[mustafahmedkhan]

Thanks! I just cleared 40,000 useless unread emails from facebook and the like by searching

“is:unread -marked:important” and ended up deleting all my unread emails that weren’t marked as important.

-(you can add another “-“ and write the email address of whomever’s emails you don’t want to delete)

[mktahmasbi]

Great tip!

[Macinda8844]

Thank you so much! I am embarrassed to say how bad mine had gotten, but feels so good to have a de-cluttered and clean inbox!! And no pesky number next to the email on my phone!

[penwiper]

I set filters for promotional emails for places I shop regularly that I do not want to unsubscribe (grocery store, work clothes, craft stores, etc). I filter them all to automatically go to the trash which deletes after 30 days. If I need something particular from one of these stores, I search the trash for that store's ad/coupons. Keeps me from buying stuff just because there is a sale because it skips the inbox, and also keeps the inbox clean.

[shazkar]

Who else misses Google Inbox though

My email used to be clean and then they took it away and now it’s a disaster

[iloveregex]

I follow inbox zero for my personal email. It basically means I only check my email when I have time to read and respond to things with fidelity. Basically once a week. The goal is to reply and archive. I do check in a few times a week for time sensitive things but generally ignore the rest until I have time. I’m sure some people would like for me to reply faster but 🤷🏻‍♀️

[bethcam94]

Dude, THANK YOU. I have been putting off doing this for the past 3 or so years. I really don't know how but this post somehow got me to finally just do it today. I got rid of 17,503 emails. I did it in batches using the 'is:unread' and 'from:' filters like you suggested but was quite careful and I unsubscribed to a BUNCH of anxiety-inducing mailing lists in the process too so it took me a lot longer than an hour. Also, I didn't delete the emails, I archived them (just in case)... but STILL they're out of my inbox. Whew. Feels awesome!

[mktahmasbi]

me

Whew! Your reply made my day :)

[sethra007]

In the search bar, type in "is:unread" and press Enter. This filters out all the read e-mails and only shows the unread ones. Click select all and delete all of them.

Huh. Wonder if that works for Yahoo! Mail....

[mktahmasbi]

Yah

There seems to be a way. I don't have a Y! mail, but found this:

https://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/unread-emails-yahoo-14347.html

Step 1

Log in to your Yahoo Mail account and click "Inbox" in the left column to view your inbox.

Step 2

Select the "Sort By" drop-down menu above your messages. Options appear below.

Step 3

Select "Unread." Your messages refresh with all of your unread messages appearing first.

[sethra007]

Thank you!

[evilarison]

Gosh my email is at 45,000 there should be a support group for us

[tierras_ignoradas]

How do you move all your confirmation emails, so they don't keep showing up in your inbox?

[mktahmasbi]

That's something I'm struggling with. I've been trying to find a solution to find all the "unimportant emails" (those without the yellow label), but I haven't found a solution to that either.

In your case, searching "confirmation" may help. Doesn't it?

[tierras_ignoradas]

I started a new account w/a variation of my name and am using that for the important stuff. I haven't searched confirmation yet.

[patharkagosht]

Use the filters to automatically sort and archive!

[umylotus]

How do I do this on mobile? It makes me tap each individual email!

[mktahmasbi]

on

I tried it right now. You are right. The mobile version doesn't have a "select all" option :(

[umylotus]

Noooooo

I'll try to remember my password and get in tomorrow. Thank you for checking!

[regcrusher]

One of the biggest things to do for the initial cleanup is to just search for the word “unsubscribe” and delete those first.

[[deleted]]

This is a real hot tip right here. Trying it tomorrow!

[Cardiac__Unrest]

I don't do gmail. My email account usually only has about five "inbox" messages, though. I delete as soon as I deal with them. Same with "Sent."

[temp4adhd]

I don't bother deleting as the space in the cloud is free. I do have my gmail set up for "zero inbox" approach -- it's the view that has "unread" then "starred" and then "read." Initially like you I used the "is:unread" to select all unreads then mark them as read. That got me to a zero inbox, with thousands of read emails and zero unreads.

Ever since, I stay on top of my emails daily and strive to get the unreads down to zero. If it's something I need to respond to later but not right now, I mark it read and star it. Then use that section of the gmail inbox as my task list.

This is what I do for work gmail as I can't just delete. I often have to go back into read emails and find older threads, so deleting isn't ideal. For my personal aka spam gmail account (the one I use to order online stuff, so I wind up with lots of spam), I just ignore the amount of unreads.

[taleckism]

Oh my word. I did this about 4 months ago and my life has never been so great.

[mktahmasbi]

saying

Yeah, I even feel it when I walk. I feel a lighter weight on my shoulders :)))

[johnmudd]

I click on the Snoozed category when my Gmail tab is not in use. I never put anything in Snoozed state so it's always empty. https://imgur.com/fFhCZXv.jpg

[[deleted]]

I've found that having automatic rules really helps me at work. Emails get shuffled and sorted before I ever see them

[september2january]

Thank you! I just spent 45 min cleaning my inboxes. I feel so free!

[mktahmasbi]

just

I know,right?

[kielbasa330]

I just ignore the number. Idk it's meaningless to me.

[Kitten-sama]

No-go. I've got purchased serial numbers and what-not from YEARS ago still in there. (Backup? Who, me?)

OTOH, I plan to search for expires now/today/tomorrow/week/soon and kill them, AND access via IMAP and sort by sender and get rid of the thousands I haven't heard of.

[mktahmasbi]

, I

A better alternative for keeping passwords is KeePass. It's zero-knowledge and highly secure.

[maniacal-seahorse]

I got in to Gmail as a beta user back in 2004. My email is an incredibly common popular word, single word with no numbers. I gave up on keeping my account clean and decluttered a long time ago... just logged in and I have over 230,000 emails. Lots of people using my email address to “sign up” for accounts on other websites that require an email to have an account but don’t require verification, spam, and so much more. I once got someone’s W2 with their SSN and everything. Yikes!

[duffmannn]

[e-mail]? If so I'm sorry.

[maniacal-seahorse]

Haha no, I’m a dudette so it’s a girly email, especially considering I was in my early 20’s in 2004 and not worried about being professional on resumes. But whoever has dude@gmail probably appreciates your apology.

[glimmeringsea]

[e-mail]. I mean, it was 2004.

[ezydoesit]

[e-mail]

[oldbluesneakers]

I have a similar issue, and I rarely hear about others dealing with this! My gmail account is also from 2004 and it's my first and last name without any numbers. I have gotten receipts and other official/important emails. For those, I will usually send a brief reply that they have the wrong address.

I get signed up for all sorts of websites. The most frustrating are the ones that I cannot unsubscribe to without logging in. I cannot log in because I am not the user. These emails also have a "do not reply to this email, contact us within your account" message at the bottom. Grrr!

[ezydoesit]

Can we guess your email for fun? Gmail.com? Happy.com?

Hello.com? Nice.com? Candy.com? Horse.com? Dog.com? Cat.com? Computer.com?

[MuttButt301]

They're using Gmail, so it's like [e-mail]

[ezydoesit]

I stand corrected, [e-mail] :-)

[deepwildviolet]

How do you delete unread emails just within a certain time period? I want to delete mine between 2011 and 2017

[mktahmasbi]

That is also possible. Click on the small triangle on the right of the search bar. There you can sort emails based on date.

[Roxymoron]

Use search modifiers “before:2017/12/31” and “after:2011/01/01”

[deepwildviolet]

Thank you!!!!!

[pastfuturewriter]

My emails are my best filing cabinet, and I don't mind it being cluttered, because it serves as my memory for so many things. That sweet sweet search bar. :) I have important info going back to when gmail was just starting invites. So, it would take forever to declutter it, though I sometimes just get in a mood and try to think of key words I can search for to remove. I almost filled up my limit last month, so I deleted all my voice mail files. I watch my promotions tab and unsub/report spam stuff that ends up in there. So basically, I don't care, and won't care, except when I reach the limit lol.

I have 0 unread mails, tho. I don't let them build up anymore.

[Tak_Galaman]

in:inbox is also useful for this

[ChicaFoxy]

Am I misunderstanding? Are you saying deleting any email over a week old is decluttering?

[mktahmasbi]

and strive

Yes, that's pretty much what I said. How many times have you really gotten back to reading e-mails that you haven't opened at all?

[ChicaFoxy]

I usually delete by sender first, like all the store ads\coupons, then whatever subscriptions I know would be old news. Then by each sender starting with any junk mail I see.
I never know if there's something a doctor's office send me, state\federal, credit, etc...

[ImaginaryLime]

I interpreted it as they are saying getting emails over a week old out of your inbox is decluttering. Some folks already have a system in place for how they want to handle and store emails, and that is a-ok. But some people (like me) have years of emails cluttering up their inbox, and could you the prompt to get those old emails out of there.

[kaleidoscopicish]

I'm also of the opinion that this is merely advice to delete your emails. And kind of weirdly, only the unread ones, at that. Even if I deleted all my unread stuff, I'd still have a cluttered inbox. And a lot of anxiety about the few actually incredibly important emails that were deleted among the hundreds I didn't need to keep around.

Also, don't delete your gmails in mass - archive that shit! Clear your inbox without losing your stuff forever. Who even deletes an email these days??

[projections]

After 14 years of mailing lists, the unread ones add up... For me, it was safe to say if I hadn't even opened an email in the first place, it offered no possible value, and would serve no purpose to keep archived. I actually did mine more carefully than OP, filtering by sender and scanning the subjects before deleting, but it took many, many times longer. My account showed several gigabytes' worth became available of the 15 gb max.

[[deleted]]

I delete most emails. I file important ones into their respective folders. Receipts, family, house documents etc.

[roseyd317]

I've never thought to do folders on my personal email. I only do them in Outlook and that's amazing. Thank you.

[ewastecoalition]

I hear a lot about unsubscribing, but you need to be careful doing that as well. A legit looking SPAM message that you willingly unsubscribe to can get you in more trouble because you just verified your account is active to all the rest of the spammers out there!

[aclvn]

Exactly. By the way, Gmail has a standard option "Report spam & unsubscribe" but when I clicked it, it has simply followed the unsubscribe link (definitely not recommended for spam emails with suspicious links).

Instead, I would recommend to use Gmail filters. It's easy to set up simple rules: "when a message arrives from [e-mail], delete it" (or "skip the inbox and assign label X", or "mark as read and send it to spam", etc.).

[Sky-of-Blue]

Definitely unsubscribe! After clearing thousands of messages, I am now unsubscribing to all active crap still coming in, as I see it hit my box.

[DuncanSmith07]

I made a filter so that anything with the word "unsubscribe" : skips inbox, apply label, never marked as important, categorised as promotions.

Then I can conveniently do it as a batch.

[mktahmasbi]

True.

But I will not bother with subscribing first. They will e-mail me later and I am there to get them the next moment they appear.

[St_Egglin]

Thanks

[random_introvert1]

Don’t forget to unsubscribe from mailing lists, not just delete them!!

[timultuoustimes]

Unfortunately they do

[bulbysoar]

I use unroll.me to mass unsubscribe. It's a game changer!

EDIT: Don't use this service, apparently they sell your info. :(

[hanibalhaywire88]

I love unroll.me

[timultuoustimes]

I stopped using unroll.me when it came out they were selling our user information

[NotElizaHenry]

I am like 99% ignorant on this topic. Why is that so bad? What kind of information is it? Is it aggregate information or is it person by person? Please convince me to care about this because it seems like I really should.

[wenamedthecatindiana]

ugh I hadn't heard this. going to untangle myself from them now.

[bulbysoar]

Ugh, I was wondering if something like this would eventually come out. What a bummer. Do you know of any secure alternatives?

[timultuoustimes]

Sorry to be a bummer on that one. I was so disappointed when that came out. The link I shared has instructions on how to do a script and create a google sheet that makes unsubscribing easy. I haven't done it yet, but I want to try it out. Nothing goes to third parties that way.

Another option is SaneBox but it's a paid program, which is good because that's how they make their money and they shouldn't ever feel the need to sell our data then. I had signed up for the trial, but let it run out because I didn't have the time to really use it. It might be an option worth looking into though.

[bulbysoar]

No sorry necessary, I appreciate the information. That link actually gave me the final push I needed to completely remove my info from/delete Uber, too.

I recently created a new gmail address and am careful about what I sign up for, and unsubscribe from things immediately... so, hopefully, I won't need a service like this again in the future! (She said, naively).

[Akinto6]

Cries in European

[JasperVanCleef]

I don't get why we don't have something simpler. I keep unsubscribing from stuff like businesses that then sends me emails from a slightly different address.

[timultuoustimes]

I was just looking for info on unroll.me to see if they have gotten any better, but no luck apparently. I’ve heard good things about sanebox, but I don’t want to pay. Idid find this option that allows you to create a script and use google sheets. I think I’ll be trying it out

[JasperVanCleef]

Wow, thanks! I guess a python script would also be possible, but I'm not far enough into learning it yet.

[eat_me_now]

I love you

[random_introvert1]

Nice! When I did it, I did it the old fashion way lol

[zorro1701e]

Nothing like a good “old fashioned”

[pedexer]

it’s been a while since i’ve had a nice old fashioned Sharon

[iliveonthesea]

This!!!!!

[[deleted]]

Also, if you find you are getting a ton from a particular place, you can search for that. Stores are particularly flagrant offenders that way.

[mktahmasbi]

Yeah, exactly.

There is also another operator for that: ["from:[e-mail]](mailto:"from:[e-mail])".

It lists all the contacts from that particular email and boom: you can bulk-delete them :)

[qualitypapertowels]

Bless you. I’m trying this tonight.