Delete emails one at a time or in bulk
The fastest way to delete email depends on how many messages you want gone. If you are deleting a few messages, select each one and hit the delete button. If you are clearing out hundreds of old messages, use your email program's search or filter tools to find them all at once, then delete the whole batch together.
Every email program — Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo Mail, Apple Mail — works the same way at the core: you find the message, mark it for deletion, and it moves to a trash or deleted items folder. From there, you can either leave it (it takes up space) or permanently remove it by emptying the trash.
Key Takeaways
- Deleted messages sit in a trash or deleted items folder for 30 days or more before they are gone for good, so you can recover them if you change your mind.
- Bulk deletion works fastest when you use filters or search to group messages by sender, date, or folder, then select all results at once.
- Permanently removing messages from trash frees up storage space, which matters if your email account has a limit.
- Unsubscribing from mailing lists prevents future clutter better than deleting each message one by one.
Delete messages in Gmail
In Gmail, click the checkbox next to any message to select it. A checkbox also appears at the top of the list — click that to select all messages on the current page. Once selected, click the trash icon (or the three-dot menu and choose "Delete") and the messages move to the Trash folder.
To delete messages across multiple pages at once, use the search bar at the top. Type a sender's name, a date range, or a word that appears in the messages you want gone. For example, typing from:newsletter@example.com finds every message from that sender. Click the checkbox at the top to select all results, then delete them together. Gmail will ask if you want to delete all matching messages — click "Delete all" to confirm.
Messages in Gmail's Trash folder stay there for 30 days, then disappear automatically. If you want to delete them right away, open the Trash folder, select the messages, and click "Delete permanently." This frees up storage space when ready.
Delete messages in Outlook (web and desktop)
In Outlook on the web, click the checkbox next to a message, then click the trash icon in the toolbar. To select multiple messages at once, click the checkbox at the top of the list to select all messages on the current page. If you want to delete messages from many pages, use the search bar to find them first — type a sender's name or subject — then select all results and delete.
In Outlook on your computer (Windows or Mac), right-click a message and choose "Delete," or click the message and press the Delete key. To delete many messages, click the first one, hold Shift, and click the last one to select the whole range. Then press Delete or click the trash icon. Messages move to the Deleted Items folder.
In both versions, messages in Deleted Items stay there for 30 days before they are permanently removed. To delete them right away, right-click the Deleted Items folder and choose "Empty Folder" (on your computer) or open Deleted Items, select all, and click "Delete" (on the web).
Delete messages in Yahoo Mail and Apple Mail
In Yahoo Mail, click the checkbox next to a message or use the checkbox at the top to select all messages on the page. Click the trash icon in the toolbar. To find and delete many messages at once, use the search bar — type a sender's name or date range — then select all results and delete them together. Messages move to the Trash folder and stay there for 7 days before they disappear.
In Apple Mail on Mac, click a message to select it, then press Command+Delete, or click the trash icon in the toolbar. To select multiple messages, click the first one, hold Shift, and click the last one. You can also use the search box at the top to find messages by sender or subject, then select and delete them. Deleted messages move to the Trash mailbox and stay there until you empty it — right-click Trash and choose "Erase Deleted Items."
Use filters and rules to delete messages automatically
Instead of deleting messages after they arrive, you can set up rules that delete them automatically. This works best for newsletters, promotional emails, or messages from senders you no longer want to hear from.
In Gmail, open a message from the sender you want to block. Click the three-dot menu and choose "Block [sender]." Gmail will delete future messages from that address automatically. For more control, use filters: click the search box, then the funnel icon, and set conditions like "from" or "subject contains." At the bottom, choose "Create filter" and select "Delete it" to send matching messages straight to trash.
In Outlook on the web, click the three-dot menu on a message and choose "Create rule." Set the condition (like "from" a specific sender) and the action (delete or move to a folder). In Outlook on your computer, go to File > Manage Rules & Alerts, then click "New Rule" and follow the same steps.
In Yahoo Mail, click the three-dot menu on a message and choose "Add to Filters." Set the sender or subject and choose "Delete message" as the action. In Apple Mail, go to Mail > Preferences > Rules, click "Add Rule," and set conditions and actions the same way.
Unsubscribe from mailing lists instead of deleting
Many promotional emails and newsletters include an "Unsubscribe" link at the bottom. Clicking it removes you from that mailing list, so you stop receiving messages instead of having to delete them one by one. This is faster and more permanent than deletion.
Look for the unsubscribe link in small text at the very bottom of the email. Click it and follow the steps — usually you just confirm that you want to stop receiving messages. Some senders ask you to log in or verify your email address. After you unsubscribe, you should stop receiving messages from that sender within a few days.
If an email does not have an unsubscribe link, or if clicking it does not work, use the filter or rule method described above to delete future messages automatically. Legitimate senders are required by law to include a working unsubscribe option, so a missing link is a sign the message may be spam or a scam.
Recover deleted messages before they are gone for good
If you delete a message by mistake, you have time to get it back. In Gmail, open the Trash folder, find the message, click it, and click the "Move to" button (the arrow icon) to move it back to your inbox or another folder. You have 30 days to recover messages before Gmail deletes them permanently.
In Outlook, open the Deleted Items folder, right-click the message, and choose "Move" to send it back to your inbox. Messages stay in Deleted Items for 30 days on the web and until you empty the folder on your computer. In Yahoo Mail, open Trash, click the message, and click "Move to" to restore it. Yahoo keeps messages in Trash for 7 days. In Apple Mail, open the Trash mailbox, click the message, and drag it back to your inbox or another folder.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does deleting an email free up storage space right away?
No. When you delete a message, it moves to trash or deleted items but still takes up space. You must empty the trash folder to free up storage. In Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo Mail, messages in trash are automatically deleted after 30 days (7 days for Yahoo), which frees up space then. To free up space when ready, empty trash manually.
Can I delete all emails from one sender at once?
Yes. Use your email program's search feature to find all messages from that sender, then select and delete them together. In Gmail, type from:sendername@example.com in the search bar. In Outlook, Yahoo, and Apple Mail, type the sender's name or email address in the search box. Select all results and delete them in one action.
What happens if I empty the trash folder?
Messages in trash are permanently deleted and cannot be recovered. Before you empty trash, make sure you do not need any of the messages in it. If you are unsure, wait a few days — you can always empty it later.
How do I stop getting emails from a sender without deleting them?
Click the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email, or use your email program's block or filter feature to send future messages from that sender straight to trash automatically. Blocking is faster than deleting each message one by one.
Can I recover a message after I empty the trash?
Once you empty trash, the message is gone for good and cannot be recovered. Some email programs keep a backup for a short time, but this is not may provide. If you need a message, recover it from trash before you empty the folder.