How to Clear the Inbox in Gmail (Draft, Spam, Junk, Deleted etc)

Is your Gmail account flooded with too many emails? Are you losing your priority emails because of a large chunk of unwanted, unsolicited emails? Fortunately, there are ways to clear the inbox in Gmail and organize your emails effectively.

A. Deleting All Emails Visible On Your Screen

The following methods select and delete only those emails that are visible on your screen. It’ll not delete any other emails.

Delete Emails in Inbox

1. Open Gmail.
2. Use the checkboxes on the upper left corner to select all the emails.
3. Click on the Delete icon.

Delete Draft Emails

1. Open Gmail.
2. Click on the Drafts icon on the left.
3. Click on the checkbox on the upper left.
4. Click on Discard Drafts.

Clear the Spam Folder

1. Open Gmail.
2. Click the More option on the left panel.
3. Select the Spam folder.
4. Use the checkbox on the upper left corner.
5. Click on Delete.

Clear the Bin Contents

1. Open Gmail.
2. Click the Spam folder on the left hand side.
3. Select Bin.
4. Click on Empty Bin Now to delete all the emails in your Bin.

B. Deleting All Emails (Both Visible On Your Screen + Non Visible)

Delete Emails Older than 2 Months

If you want to delete emails prior to a certain period, such as 60 days, follow the steps given below:

1. Open Gmail.
2. In the Search Box, type “older_than:60d” (without quotes)
3. Press Enter.
4. Gmail will display all emails older than 60 days.
5. Use the checkbox on the upper left corner and click on the Delete icon.

Delete Emails with Large File Attachments

You can also find and delete emails that have large file attachments. This will help you free-up your Gmail storage and prevent potential issues while receiving someone’s emails.

1. Open Gmail.
2. In the Search Box, type “larger_than:5mb” (without quotes)
3. Press Enter.
4. Gmail will display all emails that are higher than 5 MB in size.
5. Click the checkbox on the upper left corner followed by the Trash icon.

C. Delete Entire Google Account

This is a nuclear approach. Use it only if you want to wipe out all of your Google data, including emails, Google Drive files, Google Photos, Google Contacts, Google Calendar events, etc. When you delete your Google account, you would lose not only your emails but also any other data associated with other Google products. In addition to your data, any active subscriptions such as YouTube Premium, Google Play Music, etc will also be lost.

Step 1: Download your Data

1. Login to your Google account and visit the Google Takeout page.
2. Click on Data & Personalization.
3. Scroll down and click the option Download your data.
4. Select the data you want to include in your Google Archive.
5. Click on Next Step.
6. Click on Send download link via email.
7. Once you start the download request, you will receive an email containing a download link to your archive file. Click that archive to download your file.

Step 2: Delete your Google Account

1. GO to Google MyAccount page.
2. Click on the Data and Personalization tab on the left.
3. Click on Delete a service or your account under the Download, Delete or Make a Plan for your Data section.
4. Click on Delete your Account.
5. Confirm your action.