The fastest way to delete many emails at once
You can select and delete multiple emails in Outlook without opening each one individually. The method depends on whether the emails are grouped together or scattered across your inbox — but both take under a minute once you know the steps.
If the emails sit next to each other, click the first one, hold Shift, and click the last one. Outlook highlights all emails in between. If they are scattered, click the first email, then hold Ctrl (or Cmd on Mac) and click each additional email you want to delete. Once you have selected them all, press the Delete key or click the trash icon in the toolbar.
After you delete emails, they move to your Deleted Items folder. They stay there until you empty that folder — so if you delete something by mistake, you can recover it from Deleted Items before that step.
Key Takeaways
- Use Shift+click to select a block of consecutive emails, or Ctrl+click to select scattered emails one at a time.
- Deleted emails move to Deleted Items first, so you can recover them if you change your mind.
- You can select all emails in a folder at once using Ctrl+A, then deselect the ones you want to keep by Ctrl+clicking them.
- Permanently deleting emails from Deleted Items frees up storage space in your mailbox.
- Creating rules or using search filters helps you find and delete similar emails in bulk without doing it manually each time.
Selecting emails that sit next to each other
When the emails you want to delete are lined up in a row, Shift+click is the fastest method. Click on the first email in the group, then hold Shift and click on the last email. Outlook selects everything in between automatically.
This works whether the emails are sorted by date, sender, or subject. The emails do not have to be from the same person or about the same topic — they just need to be adjacent in your current view. Once they are highlighted in blue, press Delete or right-click and choose Delete from the menu.
Selecting emails scattered throughout your inbox
If the emails you want to delete are not next to each other, use Ctrl+click (Cmd+click on Mac). Click the first email, then hold Ctrl and click each additional email you want to select. Each one highlights in blue as you click it.
You can Ctrl+click as many emails as you need — there is no limit. This method is useful when you are deleting emails from different senders or dates that happen to be mixed in with emails you want to keep. Once all your target emails are highlighted, press Delete.
Selecting all emails in a folder at once
If you want to delete most of the emails in a folder and keep only a few, it is faster to select all first, then deselect the ones you need. Press Ctrl+A to highlight every email in the current folder. They all turn blue.
Now hold Ctrl and click on each email you want to keep. Those emails unhighlight, leaving only the ones you want to delete still selected. Press Delete when you are ready. This approach saves time when you are cleaning out a folder that is mostly old or unwanted mail.
Permanently removing emails from Deleted Items
When you press Delete, emails move to your Deleted Items folder but still take up storage space in your mailbox. To free that space, you need to empty Deleted Items. Click on the Deleted Items folder in your folder list on the left side of Outlook.
Right-click on Deleted Items and select Empty Folder. Outlook asks you to confirm — click Yes. The emails are now permanently gone and cannot be recovered. If you are not sure whether you need the emails, wait a few days before emptying the folder, since you can still restore them during that time.
Using search and rules to delete similar emails in bulk
If you regularly receive emails you want to delete — like notifications from a service you no longer use, or old messages from a specific sender — you can set up a rule to delete them automatically. This saves you from manually selecting and deleting them each time.
To create a rule, right-click on an email from that sender or with that subject line. Select Rules, then Create Rule. Outlook opens a dialog where you can specify what emails match (by sender, subject, or keywords) and what to do with them. Choose Delete from the action menu. From that point forward, matching emails go straight to Deleted Items without cluttering your inbox.
You can also use the search box at the top of Outlook to find all emails matching certain criteria — for example, all emails from a specific sender, or all emails older than a certain date. Type your search terms, then select all the results using Ctrl+A and delete them together.
What happens if you delete an email by mistake
Deleted emails sit in your Deleted Items folder for a set period before Outlook removes them permanently. The length of time varies — some accounts keep them for 30 days, others for 90 days. You can restore a deleted email by opening Deleted Items, finding it, right-clicking it, and selecting Move, then choosing the folder where you want it to go.
If you have already emptied your Deleted Items folder, the email is gone permanently and cannot be recovered. This is why it is a good idea to wait a day or two before emptying that folder if you deleted a large batch of emails.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I undo a delete if I already emptied Deleted Items?
No — once you empty Deleted Items, the emails are permanently removed and cannot be recovered. Before you empty that folder, take a moment to scan it and make sure nothing important is there. If you are unsure, wait a few days.
How do I select emails on my phone or tablet?
On the Outlook mobile app, swipe left on an email to reveal the delete button, or tap and hold an email to select it. You can then tap additional emails to select multiple ones, then tap the trash icon. The process is similar to the desktop version but uses touch instead of keyboard shortcuts.
Will deleting emails free up space in my mailbox?
Only after you empty Deleted Items. straightforward pressing Delete moves emails out of your inbox but they still count toward your storage limit. You must empty Deleted Items to actually free up space. Some mailboxes have a limit of 50 GB, others 100 GB — check your account settings to see yours.
Can I delete emails without moving them to Deleted Items first?
Not in the standard Outlook interface. Emails always go to Deleted Items first. However, if your organization uses Outlook on the web through Microsoft 365, you can hold Shift and press Delete to permanently remove an email without the Deleted Items step — but this is not reversible, so use it carefully.
What is the difference between Delete and Archive?
Delete moves emails to Deleted Items. Archive moves them to an Archive folder, where they stay in your mailbox but out of your main inbox. Archive is useful if you want to keep emails but declutter your working space. Delete is for emails you do not need at all.