Bulk Deleting Emails with Large Attachments in Gmail
Gmail offers a quick method to bulk delete attachments by going straight to the Search bar.
- In the Search bar, type has:attachment.
- To narrow the search, you can specify the attachment size. For example, type has:attachment larger:10MB. This shows all messages with attachments larger than 10MB.
- Press Enter to see the search results.
- From the results, select the emails you no longer need and click the Trash icon.
- Deleted messages are sent to the Trash folder, where they’ll stay for 30 days before being permanently deleted. They’ll continue to occupy space during this time, and you won’t see a change in your storage space until they’re completely gone.
- If you need to immediately free up space, go to Trash. Choose the emails with large attachments and click on Delete Forever, or just choose the Empty Trash now option.
- At this point, you should see your storage space improve. If you still need to free up more space, repeat the process while searching for other attachment sizes.
Auto-Delete Old Emails with Attachments in Clean Email
If you need a faster way to mass delete old emails with large attachments, Clean Email offers an intuitive filtering system so you can quickly find the messages you want to delete.
- Go to Inbox, All Mail, or any Smart Folder.
- Click Large Mail on the top bar.
- Choose from the available sizes to filter emails that match the criteria.
- Once matching messages are displayed, you can sort them by size or date.
- Choose the messages you want deleted.
- Select Trash or Delete button.
💡 Note: When you send a message to Trash, it stays there for 30 days and continues to occupy Gmail storage space. You should choose Delete to free up storage space immediately.
You can also open the email and check its contents before permanently deleting it to prevent accidentally losing important information. You should consider backing up your email to ensure you have copies of any crucial information.
In case you accidentally delete a message, Clean Email has a History feature where you can check all the actions you’ve done and undo them.
You can also automate the task of cleaning your Gmail inbox using Auto Clean rules. These automated rules can filter large and old emails and delete them automatically. Moreover, the created rules can be reviewed later and paused or edited if your preferences change.
💡 Cleaning hint: For example, you can filter large unread promotional emails older than 6 months and create a rule to move them to Trash automatically. This rule will auto-delete emails in Gmail so you can constantly maintain sufficient storage space.
Delete Recent Emails with Attachments on iOS / Android
The Gmail mobile app supports the same functions you can do on the webmail interface.
- Open the Gmail app.
- Go to the search bar and use the same search query has:attachment larger:[size].
- Review the emails and choose the ones you want to delete.
- Swipe left on each message to quickly delete them.
- If you want to mass delete emails on Gmail, you can tap one email to select it, then press Select All. This selects the first 30 messages out of all emails that meet the search criteria.
- Press the Trash can icon to send the email(s) to the Trash folder.
- (Optional) To immediately free up storage space, go to the Trash folder. Choose Empty trash now to delete all the trashed messages, or individually select the emails you want to permanently delete.
Clean Email makes the process simpler with its dedicated iOS and Android apps. You can bulk-delete attachments in Gmail by selecting the option for Large Mail and getting rid of emails with unwanted attachments from the search results.
Once you’ve selected the messages, you can directly Delete them permanently so they don’t end up in a Trash folder and continue to occupy space.
Delete Attachments in Gmail Without Deleting Email
Sometimes, you only want to delete attachments and leave the message body intact. Unfortunately, Gmail doesn’t support this option, and you’d need third-party apps to use it.
Fortunately, there are workarounds to help you preserve emails but delete their unwanted attachments.
1. Delete Gmail attachments from a sent mail
The easiest way is to forward the emails to yourself manually but without the attachments. You can create one folder for these messages or use several folders to organize them per the original sender. This will help you locate the messages when you need them in the future.
Once you’ve saved the original messages this way, then you can go ahead and delete the original message that contained the attachment.
2. Delete old Gmail attachments using another email client
Another way to delete unwanted attachments but keep the messages intact is by using another email client like Apple Mail, Outlook, or Thunderbird. These email clients offer workarounds to help you keep the original message without the bulky attachment.
However, some of these methods involve manipulating Gmail. You should ensure your email is backed up properly before trying to separate attachments from messages. Try these methods with 1-2 unimportant messages first before using them to bulk delete attachments.
- Open the Mail app.
- Select the message with the unwanted attachment.
- Choose Message → Remove attachments.
- The attachment will now have a text saying that the attachment was manually removed.
- IMAP accounts, such as Gmail, will also have the attachments deleted on the mail server.
Using MS Outlook:
If you’re using Outlook, here you can find the guide on how to use a certain code to extract the attachment and delete it successfully. The code can be manipulated in the VBA Editor from the Developer tab.
Using Thunderbird:
Just like Apple Mail, Thunderbird offers a straightforward way to delete attachments without deleting the email body.
- Open Thunderbird.
- Select the message whose attachment you want to remove.
- Go to Message → Attachments → Detach all.
- Click OK on the dialog box to confirm you want to delete the attachment.
You can confirm that the operation is successful by revisiting Gmail. You should still see the original email but without the heavy attachment.
Other Solutions to Clean Up Gmail Storage
Apart from getting rid of large attachments, there are other ways to clean up storage in Gmail.
- Delete old and bulky files like photos, videos, and audio files. Since Gmail shares storage with Google Drive and Google Photos, you should check these apps for any bulky files you don’t need. Get rid of them, and you’ll quickly restore your storage space.
- Keep attachments to a minimum. Consider alternative methods to share large files, such as file transfer sites or cloud storage platforms. The fewer attachments you receive on your email address, the more storage space you’ll have.
- Unsubscribe from unwanted junk mail. Receiving tons of emails can also eat up your storage limit. Clean your inbox and delete all promotions in Gmail. Remove your email address from old mailing lists and refrain from using it to sign up for promotional offers.
Clean Email offers an efficient method to unsubscribe from multiple junk mail and ensure you stop receiving their messages. It also has other useful features to keep your inbox organized and free from unnecessary clutter.
You may be reaching the limit of your storage space, but with the right tools and best practices, you can enjoy a more spacious Gmail inbox.
