How to Delete Archived Emails in Gmail on the Web
When the average Gmail user sets out to permanently delete archived emails in Gmail, they often immediately run into a major problem: it's not obvious where to find archived emails in Gmail.
Thats's because there's no Archive folder in Gmail. This can be really puzzling, especially if you're used to Outlook or Yahoo Mail. Instead, archived messages can be found in the All Mail section, which is where all other messages can be found as well. In other words, there's no section dedicated to stored messages in Gmail—just one large pile that includes everything in your account.
Because of how poorly organized archived emails in Gmail are, their deletion typically looks like this:
- Go to your Gmail account.
- Click on the All Mail label to view all emails.
- Look for messages that lack the Inbox label. To see it, you need to have the View Density option in the Quick Settings menu set to Comfortable.
- Manually check each archived email you want to delete.
- Click on the trash icon to delete the selected emails. Alternatively, if you have Gmail keyboard shortcuts turned on, you can press the "e" key to archive a selected message.
But what if you want to mass delete archived emails in Gmail? Well, that's a problem because any attempt to, let's say, delete more than 50 emails in Gmail is guaranteed to delete legitimate messages you might want to keep since there's no option to select only archived messages from the All Mail pile.
Fortunately, a solution does exist, and its name is Clean Email.
Delete Archived Emails Quickly in Bulk With Clean Email
If you're looking to bulk delete archived emails in Gmail, then you need to use a third-party tool like Clean Email. With its help, you can quickly select and delete only stored messages—all in just a few steps:
- Go to app.clean.email and sign in with your email account.
- Under the Mailbox section in the left-hand menu, choose Archive.
- Here, you’ll see all archived Gmail emails.
- Click the Select button in the top toolbar and then choose the Select All option.
- You can now delete all selected emails by clicking the Trash button.
- Confirm your decision to proceed with the action.
Now that your archived messages are deleted, you can't unarchive them anymore, but you can retrieve them from the Trash folder if you need to (learn more about the difference between Gmail archive vs. delete).
Erase Archived Emails in Gmail on macOS
Mac users can also find and clean out saved emails in Gmail using the web version of Clean Email as described above, but there's an even better option available to them: the Clean Email app for macOS, which looks and works just like the web app but offers the performance advantage of native software. Here's how it works:
- Download the app from the App Store and sign in with your mailbox credentials.
- In the left-hand menu, locate the Mailbox section and click on Archive.
- This will display a list of all your archived Gmail messages.
- Find and click the Select button, then choose Select All from the dropdown menu.
- To remove all stored emails from your Gmail account, click the Trash button in the toolbar.
- A prompt will appear, and you need to click Confirm to proceed.
If you've been dealing with issues caused by your Gmail storage being full, then it's very likely that erasing your saved emails will provide significant relief.
Delete Archived Emails in the Gmail App on Android or iPhone
The Gmail app for Android and iPhone is just as ill-equipped when it comes to allowing users to find and delete archived emails in Gmail accounts as the web version of the email service. Once again, Clean Email can simplify the process thanks to its mobile apps:
- Download the app for Android or iOS.
- Launch the app and log in with your email address.
- Tap the hamburger menu icon in the top-left corner and scroll down to the Mailbox section.
- Expand the dropdown if necessary and tap Archive. There you’ll see all archived Gmail emails.
- To delete them in bulk, tap the Select button in the bottom toolbar and then choose Select All.
- Finally, choose the Trash option and confirm your decision.
In addition to getting your inbox rid of archived, Clean Email can also be used to instantly delete all emails on iPhone.
Remove Archived Emails in Gmail on iPad or Other Tablet
If you're using an iPad or another tablet to manage your Gmail account, you have two efficient options for removing stores messages using Clean Email:
- Use the Clean Email web app: Simply open your tablet's web browser and navigate to app.clean.email. Follow the steps outlined in the Delete Archived Emails Quickly in Bulk With Clean Email section above to manage your saved emails through the web interface.
- Download the Clean Email mobile app: Visit your device's app store to download the app for iOS or Android. Once installed, follow the instructions in the Delete Archived Emails in the Gmail App on Android or iPhone section to easily manage your stored emails.
💡 Hint: If you find yourself frequently archiving emails, consider setting up Gmail automation rules to enhance your inbox management process even further.
