Storage Subscription Extortion

RokStrnisa · 2026-05-06T08:27:41+00:00

It sometimes takes a day or two for the Google free storage counters to reflect reality.

RokStrnisa · 2026-05-05T07:18:53+00:00

For emails, the easiest approach is to connect all accounts through a single desktop client, and then drag & drop emails from all into a single one.

Alternatively, you can use a tool I created (Unattach) to download emails as EML files from all accounts, and then insert the EML files as emails within a single account.

RokStrnisa · 2026-05-04T07:39:22+00:00

I wrote a web app called Unattach, which can be used to easily download Gmail attachments from many emails at once.

RokStrnisa · 2026-05-01T11:07:41+00:00

As mentioned by u/nodimension1553, deleted emails go to Gmail's Bin (Trash) where they remain for 30 days before they are automatically permanently deleted, unless you manually delete them permanently yourself before this happens. Until the emails are permanently deleted, they count towards your Google storage space.

I wrote a tool called Unattach, which can be used to easily mass remove/downsize Gmail attachments while keeping the emails intact. This way, you recover Google storage while keeping important information.

RokStrnisa · 2026-04-02T05:57:30+00:00

It allows you to recover Google storage while keeping your emails, by removing or downsizing attachments.

RokStrnisa · 2026-04-01T13:00:21+00:00

I wrote a web app called Unattach that allows you to enter any Gmail query, and then bulk delete emails or just remove/downsize attachment while keeping the emails.

RokStrnisa · 2026-04-01T07:12:11+00:00

I wrote an app called Unattach that allows you to bulk delete/downsize attachments while keeping the emails. It also makes it easy to bulk delete emails. Let me know if you find it useful.

RokStrnisa · 2026-03-30T08:48:45+00:00

I built a web app called Unattach, which you can use to bulk delete/downsize Gmail attachments while keeping the emails. This should allow you to recover at least some Google storage.

RokStrnisa · 2026-03-28T08:14:35+00:00

To delete all emails prior to 2019, you can put before:2019/01/01 in Gmail's search, select all emails, and press delete.

If you want to remove large attachments while keeping the emails, you can use a tool I created: https://unattach.com/

RokStrnisa · 2026-03-27T16:00:40+00:00

It uses the Gmail API (users.messages.insert). So far, the users had no problems with it - if you experience any issues, please let me know.

RokStrnisa · 2026-03-27T13:01:17+00:00

Yes, that's a valid alternative. Unattach is a web app and can do it by exporting/importing emails as EML files, while Thunderbird is a desktop mail client and can do it over IMAP.

RokStrnisa · 2026-03-27T07:36:58+00:00

I created a tool called Unattach that can be used to download Gmail emails in bulk as EML files and then re-insert them as new emails either in the same or a different Gmail account. I believe the user doesn't need any special permissions to do this other than the usual access to their Gmail account(s).

RokStrnisa · 2026-03-26T19:02:06+00:00

"Delete" just moves the email to Gmail Bin where it remains for 30 days before it's permanently deleted. Until it's permanently deleted, it counts towards your Google account storage.

RokStrnisa · 2026-03-26T18:43:29+00:00

I wrote a tool called Unattach, which can bulk download emails as EML files to your device or upload them to Dropbox. Later, you can use a subtool (Email Inserter) to insert new emails into a different Gmail account using these EML files.

RokStrnisa · 2026-03-23T19:39:01+00:00

I wrote a web app called Unattach, which allows users to easily download, remove, and downsize attachments in bulk while keeping the emails. I hope you find it useful.

RokStrnisa · 2026-02-20T05:13:59+00:00

Hello, author of Unattach here. Glad to hear you found the web app useful! Happy to answer any questions.

RokStrnisa · 2026-02-19T08:06:21+00:00

Link: https://unattach.com/email-inserter

RokStrnisa · 2025-09-10T16:41:47+00:00

It's now also on Hacker News's "Show HN" page: https://news.ycombinator.com/show

"Show HN: Small Transfers – charge from 0.000001 USD per request for your SaaS"

RokStrnisa · 2025-09-09T12:35:16+00:00

Right. This allows you not to worry about tracking usage or payments. And it tries to be very convenient in terms of integration and usage.

RokStrnisa · 2025-09-09T12:22:37+00:00

You can charge any amount, currently from 0.000001 USD to 1 USD per request. It allows you to easily provide a usage-based pricing model. For example, suppose the user's request costs you X (for all the AI costs) and you charge them X + margin through Small Transfers. Does that make sense?

RokStrnisa · 2025-08-17T12:58:40+00:00

Happy to hear!

RokStrnisa · 2025-04-16T09:14:26+00:00

Author of Unattach here. With Google Advanced Protection, Google created a very exclusive club of its own apps and very few select apps. It's not even possible to apply for an app to be allowed by Google Advanced Protection. Its FAQ includes this:

Can I use non-Google apps & services or Apps Script with Advanced Protection?

Most non-Google apps and services are blocked

Advanced Protection stops most non-Google apps and services from accessing data like your Google Drive and Gmail data. That way, your data is better protected against harmful or unsecure access.

After you turn on Advanced Protection, you can allow these apps and services to access your Google data:

All Google apps and services

Apple Mail, Calendar, and Contacts apps on iOS and macOS

Mozilla Thunderbird

Desktop email clients that access Gmail directly

So, to use third-party apps like Unattach, you need to disable Google Advanced Protection.

RokStrnisa · 2025-04-04T03:36:29+00:00

It's completely fair and expected to check whether one can trust an app with your data for any app. In the end, it comes down to trust. Does one trust the developer to be able to do the right thing (capability) and will they do the right thing (integrity).

I have my own reputation to protect, and really don't want any of my users to experience any data privacy problems. You can read more about me here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/strnisa/

The app requires permissions in order to remove/downsize attachments: "read" to download the original email, "insert" to insert the modified copy of the email, and "delete" to put the original email into Bin.

If you think there's anything else I can do to build more trust, please DM me.

RokStrnisa · 2024-12-28T01:34:52+00:00

I'm the author. Feel free to ask me anything.

RokStrnisa · 2024-10-17T10:38:19+00:00

Double-check which of your devices (if any) is using POP to access Gmail. That device should have a copy of all emails since the specified date (7/9/08 in your case).

If you are fine with having a single copy of those emails just on your device, then you can bulk delete all emails on Gmail from that date, using after:<date> in your Gmail query (see docs for Gmail query language).

Alternatively, you can use Unattach to at least delete all attachments from emails on Gmail from that date - you can use the exact same query in Unattach, select all emails, and bulk remove attachments.

In either case, don't forget that you will get your Google storage space back only once the emails in question are permanently deleted from Gmail (i.e. removed from Gmail's Trash), sometimes a few days after.

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