How to delete Multiple Emails in Gmail Using Search Criteria

The checkbox method of deleting emails on Gmail works well if you've got many different types of emails you want to delete. But what if all the emails you want to delete have something in common?

For example, what if you wanted to delete all emails from a specific sender? Or you wanted to delete all emails related to a particular project.

With Gmail, you can define specific criteria for the messages you want to delete. Here's how:

1. Start with Gmail Open

Open your Gmail inbox.

Notice the search bar at the top of the screen, towards the center. Use the Gmail search bar to define exactly which emails will be deleted.

2. Define Email Deletion Criteria

Click the down arrow in the search bar. (It's to the left of the icon that looks like a magnifying glass at the end of the search bar). The Advanced Search dialog box displays:

Type your email deletion criteria into the Advanced Search dialog box.

For example, to delete all the messages that I received about meetings, I would type the word "Meeting" into the Subject field. To delete all the messages from a former coworker, I would type their name into the From field.

When you've finished selecting your Gmail search criteria, click the Search icon. A screen appears showing only those messages that meet your deletion search criteria:

Notice that some of the messages that appear are from labels (folders) other than your inbox. In this example, some of the messages are from my To Do label. To limit the search to your inbox only, change the criteria from All Mail to Inbox using the drop-down menus next to the word Search at the top left of the dialog box.

3. Mass Delete Gmail Messages

Now that I've found the messages I want to delete, I can delete all the email messages on the screen at once by using the Bulk Select checkbox in the upper left corner:

As soon as you click the Bulk Select checkbox, all the messages that met your search criteria are automatically checked. To delete them, click the Trash icon above the selected messages (it looks like a trash can).

4. Mass Delete All Gmail Message

You can also use the Gmail Search tool to mass delete all your Gmail messages. As before, open the Gmail Advanced Search dialog box:

Make sure that All Mail is selected next to the Search field in the upper left of the dialog box. Don't fill out any of the other fields in the dialog box.

Click the Search icon in the lower left of the dialog box. All the messages in your Gmail system appear, even if they're in a label or a different tab. Even messages from your Drafts and Sent folder appear. Messages in your Trash and Spam folders, however, aren't shown. The screen shows the rest of your Gmail messages:

Note: You may get a prompt that says Invalid search query - returning all mail. This is normal.

Click the Bulk Select checkbox and all the messages are automatically selected:

Click the Trash icon. All the messages have been deleted. Your screen should look like this:

All the messages in your Gmail system have been sent to the Trash (Except for those in the Trash and Spam folders).