{"id":93260,"date":"2017-08-28T15:09:23","date_gmt":"2017-08-28T15:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/en\/?p=93260"},"modified":"2025-07-01T23:48:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T06:48:14","slug":"6-easy-tricks-to-free-up-space-on-gmail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/6-easy-tricks-to-free-up-space-on-gmail\/","title":{"rendered":"6 easy tricks to free up space on Gmail"},"content":{"rendered":"

How many new emails do you receive every day through your Gmail account? I don\u2019t know about you, but I get dozens and although I try to keep my inbox up-to-date my trash folder always builds up and my free gets eaten up. That\u2019s why I\u2019ve rolled up my sleeves to put together some useful <\/span>tricks to free up space on Gmail without having to go email-by-email.<\/b><\/p>\n

Try one of these tricks, several or all. Take this advice and you\u2019ll <\/span>notice a difference <\/b>and watch your inbox return to good health. <\/span><\/p>\n

1. Always keep your trash folder empty <\/b><\/h3>\n

Trash and Spam <\/b>folders are where messages we don\u2019t need end up. Though emails sent there are eventually deleted, they remain in holding for <\/span>30 days<\/b>, which means that there\u2019s always unwanted email taking up space.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"trash\"<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t let trash build up in these folders, take action: for both Trash and Spam, at the top of the inbox, there\u2019s an option called <\/span>\u201cDelete all messages now.\u201d <\/b>Click on it and free up space within seconds.<\/span><\/p>\n

I recommend that you do this every few days, so you don\u2019t give Gmail time to fill up again with unnecessary email.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"vaciar-768x122\"<\/p>\n

2. An easy way to look for old or large emails<\/b><\/h3>\n

Gmail has different commands that you can enter into the search bar to find certain messages. I especially recommend these commands:<\/span><\/p>\n

older:2014\/01\/01<\/b><\/p>\n

This command shows all emails before January 1, 2014. Change the date as you wish (keep in mind that it follows the American format: Year\/Month\/Day) to bring up <\/span>emails from that date and earlier.<\/b><\/p>\n

larger:5m<\/b><\/p>\n

This command looks for emails that take up more than 5 megabytes. Change 5m for any size you want (the \u201cm\u201d means \u201cmegabytes,\u201d the \u201ck\u201d kilobytes). Since emails that take up space have <\/span>attachments<\/b>, you\u2019ll quickly find emails with them using this command.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alternatively, you can use the command <\/span>size:5m<\/b>, which does the same thing. If you\u2019re looking for <\/span>smaller attachments you can use smaller:5m<\/b>, which will find attachments less than 5 megabytes, or any amount you enter.<\/span><\/p>\n

filename:mp3<\/b><\/p>\n

With this command, you\u2019ll find emails with <\/span>attachments of the indicated file type<\/b>. In the example, we\u2019ve put MP3, but you can enter any file type: zip, docx, rar, mov, jpg\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

\"comando\"<\/p>\n

3. Combine the previous commands<\/b><\/h3>\n

You can combine several commands to create more specific searches. For example, if you make the search <\/span>older:2008\/06\/30 size:5m filename:doc<\/b>, Gmail will show you all the files before\u00a0June 30, 2008 that have Word attachments greater than 5m.<\/span><\/p>\n

In my case, using commands that included my university days, Gmail found many files of <\/span>very old schoolwork <\/b>that I could easily delete to free up space.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"coamandos-2-768x88\"<\/p>\n

4. Delete similar messages in one go<\/b><\/h3>\n

Another way to quickly free up space is to filter messages similar to one you want to delete. For example, if you usually get newsletters from a travel site, <\/span>select the last one you received and under the \u201cMore\u201d button, click on the option \u201cFilter similar messages.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

This shows <\/span>all the messages from this sender<\/b>. Select them all and you\u2019ll delete them in one go.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"similares\"<\/p>\n

5. Let “Find Big Mail” give you a hand<\/b><\/h3>\n

If at some point you get tired of so much searching, you can always ask for help from third party services. One service that does its job well is <\/span>Find Big Email<\/span><\/a>. What this site does is <\/span>scan your Gmail and send you a report about everything stored on it.<\/b><\/p>\n

Also, this web app will label your inbox to sort out the largest emails that it thinks you could delete to free up space. <\/b>Basically, it does what you could do manually, but much faster.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is how my report for my personal account looked like after a scan:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"findbigmail\"<\/p>\n

As you can see, <\/span>My Top 20 <\/b>largest emails already take up 657MB.<\/span><\/p>\n

To access your Gmail account, Find Big Mail asks you for permission, but rest assured that <\/span>they don\u2019t store your password <\/b>and that this permission only applies at the time it\u2019s scanning your inbox. As soon as the process is finished, it’s over.<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Extreme trick: switch from IMAP to POP3<\/b><\/h3>\n

Your Gmail account is configured as IMAP by default, i.e. your email is synchronized between devices and data is stored on the cloud. However, if you want, <\/span>you can download all emails from your Gmail account to your PC and free up all the space they take up. <\/b>To do this, you have to change your account to POP3.<\/span><\/p>\n

A POP3 account works like a mail client (for example, Outlook), making emails that you receive only appear on the device they\u2019re sent to.<\/span><\/p>\n

To make this change, go to the Settings menu in Gmail (the gear) and click on <\/span>\u201cForwarding and POP\/IMAP email> Download POP email\u201d <\/b>and check the box <\/span>“Enable POP for all messages.” <\/b>You can also change other aspects of these settings, such as stopping Gmail from saving a copy of these files (if you want to free up space, go for it).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"pop\"<\/p>\n

Keep in mind that the only copy of these emails will be stored on the computer where you\u2019re downloading them. So, <\/span>now it\u2019s your PC that will see free space go down. <\/b>That being said, only use this trick if you\u2019re sure that you\u2019ll use Gmail on one specific computer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Honestly, in 2017, <\/span>I don\u2019t recommend this option<\/b>, especially when considering that by using the tricks above, you shouldn\u2019t have issues with space on Gmail. In any case, it\u2019s worth pointing out that the option exists.<\/span><\/p>\n

Liked these tricks? Then enjoy a secret trick re: Gmail. We\u2019ll tell you about it in this video. <\/b>\u00a0<\/span>How to have infinite Gmail addresses\u2026<\/span><\/a> by <\/span><\/i>softonic-es<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n