What Are Archived Emails in Gmail?
When you archive Gmail messages, it doesn’t delete them — it simply removes them from your inbox. You can still find these messages in All Mail or by searching for them as explained below. In other words, archiving is a way to set an email out of the way without removing it forever.
Inversely, when you delete an email, it goes to your Trash folder. Although this doesn’t permanently remove it from your account, it does move the message out of your inbox and you won’t see deleted emails when you search.
For more information, you can check out this guide on Gmail archive vs delete.
Archive vs Mute
Even though when you archive an email it disappears from your inbox, if someone replies to the original thread, the message will reappear.
If you don’t want the message to ever return to your inbox, an alternative is to mute the message. When you mute a message in Gmail, even the replies stay out of your inbox. You have to search for the message thread to see or read any replies.
How to View Archived Emails in Gmail
What happens when you use the Gmail archive feature but need one of the archived emails? You may wonder, “Where is archive in Gmail?”, especially since it isn’t apparent. In fact, the Gmail archive folder isn’t in the main folder list on the left side of your inbox when you access Gmail in your web browser.
Thankfully, you can learn how to see archived emails in Gmail, both from All Mail and through using the Search function.
If you are looking for messages that aren’t in the Gmail archive folder, you may need to learn how to find unread Gmail emails or the steps to find old emails on Gmail.
All Mail
- Visit Gmail on the web.
- Press More in the left folder menu.
- Once the additional options populate, find and click on All Mail.
- This will now display all emails in your account, including Gmail archived mail.
💡 Note: Choosing All Mail will display all messages in your Gmail account, including those in folders besides your inbox. If you have a lot of messages, this can make locating specific archived emails tricky. Clean Email offers advanced search tools that can make it easier to find archived messages.
Search
As mentioned, simply skimming through All Mail can make it hard to find all your archived emails. Depending on how many emails you have in your account, it may be easier to search for the archived message you’re looking for.
However, there isn’t a search feature that just shows only the messages in your Gmail archive folder. Instead, you can learn how to view archived emails in Gmail through a search by taking these steps:
- Visit Gmail.
- In the search bar at the top, type in any criteria about the message you can remember, such as the subject line, the sender, or any labels you applied to the message.
- Look through the search results to find the message you’re looking for.
How to Find Archived Gmail Messages in Clean Email
Although the archive function works fairly well, it isn’t easy to locate archived Gmail emails when there are more than one. You may be in a hurry to find emails from a client or for a research project.
Instead, you can not only archive Gmail messages using Clean Email, but easily find them in a dedicated folder.
- Expand the Mailbox section in the left-hand menu and choose Archive.
- You’ll then see all archived Gmail emails and can filter the list to find what you need quicker. At the top, use the drop-down menu to filter by newest, oldest, size, or number of messages.
- You can then retrieve or delete a message by doing one of the following:
- Retrieve an email: Click the arrow next to Trash on the right, select Move, choose Inbox, and pick Confirm.
- Delete an email: Select Trash on the right or use the arrow to pick Delete.
💡 Note: Keep in mind that Trash stores the message and makes it recoverable whereas Delete permanently removes the email.
With the Archive folder in Clean Email, you don’t have to jump through hoops just to find an email you need. You can view archived Gmail messages with a click.
How to Retrieve Archived Emails in Gmail
Once you know how to access archived Gmail messages, you may decide to move these emails back into your inbox or another folder instead of archiving them. But, without an Archive Gmail folder, you can’t just go and quickly move archived messages back to your inbox.
On computer
- Open your web browser to Gmail.
- Go to All Mail or use the Search feature to find the archived email.
- Right-click or select the message(s).
- Select Move to Inbox from the menu options.
On mobile
- Open your Gmail App.
- At the top left, tap the hamburger menu icon and then All mail.
- Find the archived email and tap to open the message.
- Tap on the three dots in the upper right corner.
- Choose Move to Inbox.
How to Delete Archived Emails in Gmail
Even when you archive an email, it isn’t removed from your mailbox. Therefore, if you want to delete an archived message in Gmail, you’ll need to follow these steps:
- Open Gmail.
- Click on All Mail and look for your archived messages.
- Select the messages you wish to delete.
- Press Delete (trash can) in the top menu bar.
How to Automatically Archive Emails in Gmail
Although archived messages reappear in your inbox when someone replies, you can change this so that emails automatically archive when someone replies. To do this, simply:
- Open Gmail in your web browser.
- Click Settings, then See all Settings.
- Click on the General tab.
- Go to the Send and Archive section.
- Click on the Show "Send & Archive" button in reply.
- Click Save Changes.
Clean Email for Easy Inbox Management
For a complete email management tool, apps like Clean Email offer email archiving solutions along with many other handy tools to keep your mailbox under control.
Automatically Archive Emails in Bulk
Unlike Gmail, Clean Email makes it easy to automatically archive messages and do so for multiple emails at once. This is thanks to the Auto Clean feature — it lets you automate routine email tasks, like archiving messages based on age, sender, or subject.
For instance, imagine you want to automatically archive emails older than six months to reduce clutter. You could set up an Auto Clean rule to do just that. Alternatively, if you receive a lot of newsletters, you might want to archive them after a month, keeping your Inbox focused on more critical messages.
To set up automatic archiving in Clean Email:
- Open the Clean Email app at https://app.clean.email.
- Log in to your Gmail account.
- Once you go to Inbox, select any email that meets the criteria you want to archive messages.
- Click on Create Rule in the menu bar. In the pop-up window, select Archive for the Apply Action section.
- Finish selecting other options, then click Create Rule.
If you wish to automatically archive emails that are older than a specific time period, simply click on the Old Mail filter located above the search bar, and select the desired time frame for your search (e.g., emails older than one year). Afterward, follow the steps outlined in the previous guide.
Now messages that meet the criteria you set, such as those older than one year, will be archived.
Enjoy Effortless Mailbox Organization
Remember that archiving messages in Gmail still counts toward your storage. So, although your inbox may be clutter-free, those tucked-away emails can take up space. In addition to the Auto Clean feature, Clean Email offers other tools that make it easy to organize your inbox.
Unsubscriber: Stop receiving newsletters or promotional messages you no longer want. With Unsubscriber, you can unsubscribe from mailing lists with a single click.
Screener: Review messages from unknown senders before they arrive in your inbox. Using Screener, you can check out messages from new senders and decide to allow, block, or unsubscribe immediately to avoid inbox overload.
Smart Folders: See related messages in pre-made folders and then act on them all at once. With Smart Folders, you’ll find emails related to travel, shopping, social media, and more, all automatically filtered into folders for you. You can then delete or even archive emails in bulk.
All Clean Email premium features are available to you during the trial period, giving you a risk-free way to see how well they help you control your mailbox. Whether on your desktop or on-the-go, Clean Email enhances your Gmail experience so that you can find what you need, keep it organized, and reduce the clutter on any device.
For more, check out our guide on how to archive email on iPhone. And if you read your Gmail messages in Apple Mail, look at our guide on Mac mail archiving.
FAQs
Where do archived emails go in Gmail?
When you open an email message in Gmail and click the archive button, the message is immediately moved from your inbox to a label called All Mail, where it stays until you either manually move it back to your inbox or receive a reply to it.
Where to find archived emails in Gmail on phone?
To find your archived emails on a phone, access the "All mail" folder in the Gmail app or quickly locate them using Clean Email's dedicated Archive folder feature for an organized view.
What is the fastest way to find an archived email?
The fastest way to find an archived email is by using the Clean Email’s dedicated Archive folder, which allows for easy sorting and filtering of archived messages.
How to find archived emails in Gmail using the Clean Email app?
To find archived emails in Clean Email, click the “Archive” folder in the “Mailbox” section on the left sidebar.
How to search archived emails in Gmail?
If you’re trying to figure out how to access archived Gmail messages, you just need to use the Search feature to locate the message. You can enter criteria like the sender’s address, subject line, date, size, or keywords within the email.
How to retrieve archived emails in Gmail?
You need to know where is the archive in Gmail before you can find these messages. To retrieve them, open the archived message and choose Move to Inbox from the toolbar. This will remove the “Archive” label and, you’ve guessed it, move the message to the inbox.
