Gmail cleanup: How to clean up Gmail in 8 easy steps

Have you ever found yourself running late for work because you have an important presentation and can't find that special shirt in your messy wardrobe?

Or maybe you keep your wardrobe neat, but you have so many clothes you no longer use that your special shirt got lost.

Cleaning and tidying up helps you find what you need quickly so you can maintain an organized routine. The same goes for your virtual spaces.

Think about how much you lean on your email inbox throughout your workday. Chances are all of your company communications, interactions with clients, and even sales pitches are there.

Like a closet, you store all your essentials in this one place.

So, organizing your Gmail inbox helps you have a more clear view of relevant interactions and things that need your attention.

Cleaning up your inbox is where you should start. This step-by-step guide will show you how.

Why would you need to clean up your Gmail inbox?

A cluttered inbox leads to distractions, miscommunication, stress, and frustration.

On the other hand, managing your email effectively can have multiple benefits: increased productivity, sharper focus, improved communication, and reduced stress.

If you’re dealing with any of these problems, it’s time to clean up your inbox. Here's why it's crucial and how you stand to benefit from decluttering your Gmail inbox:

Highlight important messages

Your Gmail inbox can be a valuable tool for storing essential information.

However, when it's cluttered with irrelevant messages, it becomes difficult to quickly identify and highlight important emails or attachments.

Find missed messages

A cluttered inbox can cause you to overlook unread or important emails. By keeping your inbox tidy, you make it easier to spot missed messages and stay on top of your communications.

Gain more storage on a free Gmail account

Gmail’s free accounts come with 15 GB of storage, which can fill up faster than you might think - especially if you receive large attachments or subscribe to many email lists.

Regularly cleaning your inbox helps you manage your storage effectively.

Reduce inbox clutter

Starting your day with a messy inbox can leave you feeling overwhelmed. By clearing out the clutter, you can focus on what’s important, reduce stress, and set a productive tone for your day.

Cleaning up your Gmail inbox in a nutshell

Today’s the day to finally tackle your inbox cleanup. Decluttering and organizing your Gmail inbox will reduce overwhelm and can significantly boost your productivity.

Here’s a straightforward plan to help you get it done:

1. Filter out unwanted emails.
2. Delete emails with attachments larger than 1MB.
3. Label your emails to filter notifications and other common emails.
4. Delete all messages from specific inbox categories
5. Empty the Gmail trash folder
6. Block spam, irrelevant senders, and unsubscribe from email lists.
7. Unsubscribe from email lists
8. Add Streak to Gmail to maintain a clean inbox.

After investing time in this cleanup, do your future self a favor by keeping your inbox tidy and organized.

8 steps to clean up your Gmail inbox

Cleaning up your Gmail inbox can be less daunting and time-consuming than you think - even if your account is years old and you've never put effort into organizing it in the past.

The key is to break the task into manageable steps that allow you to categorize your messages for bulk actions like deleting, labeling, and unsubscribing. Use these eight steps to clean up Gmail efficiently.

1. Use the Gmail search bar to filter unwanted emails

To start cleaning your inbox, the first thing you should do is to get rid of those emails that aren't relevant anymore.

These typically include newsletter you're no longer interested in, old messages, or files you've already downloaded.

The Gmail search bar can help you quickly find and delete these unwanted emails in bulk, making the process less overwhelming. Here are some effective ways to search for and remove these emails in your Gmail account:

• By sender's email address: Look for a specific sender who is just flooding your inbox with spam emails. You use the Gmail search operator "from:" and enter a sender email address or name.
• By keywords: Type a keyword in the Gmail search bar to look up emails with specific words. For example, if you search the word "sale", which will surface many of the promotional emails in your inbox.
• By attachments: Use the search operator "has:attachment" in the Gmail search bar to find emails with attachments. You can also use "filename:pdf" to find emails with PDF files.
• By size: Use the search operators "smaller:" and "larger:" to find messages larger or smaller than certain sizes. For instance, if you type "larger:10M" in the search bar, you can find all your emails that are larger than 10 megabytes.
• By date: This filter is very useful to find old emails at once. The search operator "older_than:5m" displays all emails older than five months. You can change "m" for "d" (day) and "y" (year). You can also use "newer_than" to look for newer messages and "before:mm/dd/yyyy" to search for emails sent before a specific date.

2. Delete emails with large attachments

Large attachments take up a lot of account space, so getting rid of emails with files you no longer need is essential.

To quickly find these emails, click the Show search options button in the left corner of the search bar. Then, in Size, select greater than, type the number (one or two), and choose MB.

The Gmail search results will display all emails with attachments larger than 2MB. Remember to check if all critical data was previously downloaded or stored somewhere, then select all emails in the search results and bulk delete.

3. Create filters and labels to organize your emails

After identifying unwanted emails, categorize them using Gmail rules and labels, which are fully customizable. You can apply multiple labels to the same email, making it easier to sort through what’s useful and what can be deleted.

Gmail labels can be helpful for deleting emails that you still want to receive, but don't need to keep in your inbox for a long time. For example, create labels for notifications that don't need to be stored in your inbox after you initially receive them.

To create a label, go to the Menu on the left side panel, click More to see all options, and select "Create a new label." Once your emails are categorized, it's much simpler to move the unwanted ones to the trash.

4. Delete all messages from specific inbox categories

After searching and categorizing, it's time to delete email you no longer need.

Find the Menu (☰) in the top left-hand panel, click on Manage Labels, this will take you to the "Labels" section of the inbox settings. Here you can "Hide" or "Remove" labels and categories in the label list or the message list within your inbox.

Removing a label or category will only delete the folder, not the messages stored inside.

To facilitate a proper Gmail cleanup, simply regularly delete unwanted emails within your category folders now that you've got them organized.

This helps you delete unnecessary categories (old messages, large files, bulk messages, etc.)

5. Empty the trash folder

All deleted emails go to the trash bin, so you should find the Menu (☰) in the top left-hand panel, click More, and then Trash.

If you're sure you want to delete all the emails in the trash, click Empty Trash now.

6. Block unwanted senders

If you're unable to unsubscribe from certain unwanted messages in your Gmail inbox, you can block emails from the sender so you stop receiving messages from them.

To block an email sender, open an email from them and click the three-dot "More options" menu at the top-right of their email. Select "Block {Sender Name}".

This is a crucial step to proactively fight inbox clutter and spam.

7. Unsubscribe from email lists

Gmail is an excellent resource for helping you unsubscribe from email lists.

The built-in feature displays an unsubscribe link at the top of the page, right next to the sender's address. You'll also find the link in many promotional emails.

The best part is that when you unsubscribe from a list, Gmail automatically sends the emails from that list to the spam folder. Then, you can just go to your spam folder to delete emails.

Please note that this tool doesn't work on the Gmail app for mobile devices; it only works on the desktop version.

8. Use Streak to keep your Gmail inbox clean and organized

Streak is a CRM in Gmail that includes email power tools like email tracking, snippets, and mail merges.

Streak automatically adds useful labels to messages in your inbox so you can quickly see which emails are associated with deals and opportunities and what stages they're in.

Over 750,000 people use Streak to keep their Gmail inbox tidy and manage all their work data from one place.

If you want to see for yourself, try Streak for free now. In 30 seconds or less, you can set up your account and start organizing your inbox.

Gmail cleanup FAQ

How do I delete thousands of emails in Gmail?

Use the search function to categorize all the emails you want to delete in bulk. If you click on the menu to the left of the search box, you can choose to find all unread, social, and promotional emails, as well as other categories.

Then, use the check box at the top of the page to select all the emails on that page. If the page is only showing 50 messages, click on the three dots to the right of the page and select Show more messages.

The page will show 100 emails with a new option right above them: All 100 conversations on this page are selected. Select all conversations that match this search.

Now, all you have to do is click on Select all conversations that match this search and select the Trash icon to delete them.

How can I clean up my Gmail faster?

To clean up your Gmail inbox faster, you should rely heavily on the search operators to find and categorize all the unwanted emails.

Once you find all the messages you no longer need, you can easily and quickly delete them all at once.

Does Gmail have a cleanup tool?

Gmail doesn't have a built-in cleanup tool, but resources like search options, filters, labels, and bulk actions allow you to quickly and effectively clean up your inbox.