Quick Answer
To delete more than the 50 emails that display in Gmail, mark the Select checkbox, click the link at the top for Select all X messages in, and choose Delete.
Delete More Than 50 Emails in Gmail: Detailed Steps
On the web:
- Navigate to a mailbox location using the left-hand menu or tabs at the top.
- Mark the Select checkbox on the top left.
- To select more than the first 50 or 100 messages (by default), click the Select all X messages in… link at the top.
- Click Delete in the toolbar.
📌 Tip: To display 100 emails by default instead of 50, go to Settings >See all settings >General. Next to Maximum page size, choose 100 in the drop-down box and click Save Changes.
To delete more than 50 at once in the mobile app:
- Use the hamburger icon on the top left to display the menu and choose a location.
- Long-press any email in the list.
- Mark the Select all checkbox at the top.
- To choose more than the first 50, scroll to the bottom to load additional messages.
- Tap Select all at the top again.
- Select the Delete icon in the toolbar.
💡 Note: You cannot currently change the number of messages that display per page in the mobile app like you can on the web.
Understanding Conversation View When Deleting Emails
If Conversation View is enabled in Gmail, the 50 items you see on a page are actually 50 conversations — not 50 individual emails.
A single conversation can contain multiple replies and forwards. When you select and delete one conversation, Gmail removes the entire thread, including all messages inside it.
For example, selecting 50 conversations could delete hundreds of individual emails if those threads contain multiple messages.
If you prefer to delete messages individually instead of entire threads, you can disable Conversation View in Settings > See all settings > General > Conversation View.
Use Clean Email to Delete Gmail Emails Quickly
Whether you want to delete unread emails in Gmail or prefer to remove emails older than a particular age, selecting and deleting all messages does take several steps due to Gmail’s pagination limits – especially in the mobile app.
To perform these types of actions simpler and faster, consider using an email productivity tool like Clean Email.
- Select unlimited emails in both the web and mobile apps and then delete them instantly.
- Skip Gmail pagination limits by selecting and acting on thousands of messages at once (5,000+ emails? Easy.)
- Remove bulk emails faster with minimal steps no matter where you use Clean Email. Send them to Trash or, alternatively, choose Delete to permanently remove your emails.
If you’re ready to take it for a test spin, you can sign up for Clean Email and try it for free. It’s available on desktop and mobile for any IMAP service provider.
How to Delete More Than 50 Emails Using Search
While the above steps work fine to remove messages with a particular label or delete Promotions tab emails, you may want to remove more specific messages. You can use the built-in Search tool to locate the emails and then apply the same steps to remove messages.
To begin, you can look for emails using the Search Options button to the right of the Search field, search operators that you enter into the Search field, or filters that display at the top of All Mail.
Once you receive the results of your search:
- Mark the Select checkbox.
- Click the link for Select all messages that match this search. Notice that the wording of this link is slightly different when selecting all emails using the search feature.
- Choose Delete.
Troubleshooting Deleting More Than 50 Emails
Deleting more than 50 or 100 messages at once is a good way to declutter your Gmail mailbox, but you may run into trouble performing this action. Here are a few common issues and resolutions.
The “Select all messages” link not appearing?
The link to “Select all messages,” whether choosing all emails with a label, on a tab, or using the Search, only displays if you have more than the default 50 or 100 on the first page. Additionally, you won’t see this message in the Gmail mobile app.
Gmail freezing when deleting all emails?
When you delete thousands and thousands of emails at one time, this can cause Gmail to slow down or even freeze. Try deleting smaller batches of 2,000 to 3,000 messages rather than all emails at once.
Deleted emails by mistake?
If you find that you mistakenly deleted emails in your batch, you can restore them if you move quickly. When you delete messages in Gmail, they go to the Trash where they remain for 30 days before they’re permanently removed.
Choose Trash in the menu, select the email(s), and pick Move to >Inbox in the toolbar.
