As the school year comes to a close you may want to consider cleaning up your Gmail emails. Here are a few tips to help you out:
1) Use the Search Bar
At the top of Gmail is a search bar. It should not be surprising that the search in Gmail is really good. However, did you know when you search it searches the WHOLE email? Try clicking on the drop down arrow to narrow your search. Get rid of emails you do not need! That announcement about how to turn grades in for the semester… that can be DELETED.
Search Further
Notice the buttons that show up when you search your Gmail.
2) Delete IN MASS
After searching in your Gmail and finding all the emails mentioning free food in the faculty lounge, click the checkbox right under the search bar that will let you select all of search results.
Note that if there are more than 50 emails in the selection you will be prompted with “Select all conversations that match this search.” Click on that.
Click the Trashcan
Wow, that felt good!!!
3) Search for People
Who sends out a lot of emails? You know who they are… the daily sports announcements perhaps? Click on the search arrow at the top and put the email address of someone whose emails you want to purge in mass into
4) Search for Attachments
Attachments eat up your storage. Get rid of anything with an attachment you do not need. Keep the 100 page PDF guide to your retirement. Ditch the email with the attachment on the 2019 sports schedule. In the search box click on “Has attachment.”
5) Create Filters
Notice the default when you search for something is the blue “Search” button. But instead, click on “Create filter” right next to it. This will bring you to a list of options for what to do with future emails that fit this criteria.
Tip: Create a 2021 label to send all future emails about the sports schedule and anything else that you’re likely to want to delete at the end of the school year into. Then you simply can go to the labels on the left side of Gmail, open 2021 “folder” and delete all. This whole process will go much faster at the end of the year.
6) Create Labels
A “Label” is a fancy word for folder. How will you organize your emails into folders? Look on the left side of Gmail, under the “Compose” button. You will see many of your labels there… but not all.
You need to click on MORE to add new labels.
Weirdly, “Create new label” is at the bottom of the labels list and hidden under the “More” option in the list.
7) Archive the Rest
Quickly get to inbox zero by selecting all on the remaining emails and hitting the ARCHIVE BUTTON! This is the icon right next to the checkbox. If you’re too chicken to delete them all, just archive them. You can still find them when you search Gmail, but stop looking at them!!
