Over time, excessive emails, attachments, and files can consume substantial space in your Gmail storage. This not only slows down your email, but can also prevent you from receiving new messages. However, freeing up Gmail storage is a simple process that you can do in a few steps.
Step 1: Clean Up Your Inbox
The first step to free up Gmail storage is by clearing out your inbox. This includes deleting unnecessary emails, especially those with large attachments. This can be done manually or by using the search function.
To search for mails above a certain size, use the following format in the search bar: size:5000000 (where the number represents the size in bytes, 5,000,000 bytes is approximately 5MB)
Step 2: Empty Your Spam and Trash Folder
The spam and trash folder in your Gmail account also consume storage space. Even though Gmail automatically deletes emails from these folders after 30 days, you can manually empty these folders to immediately free up space.
To empty your spam folder: 1. Click on the "Spam" folder in the left sidebar. 2. Click "Delete all spam messages now" at the top of the page. To empty your trash folder: 1. Click on the "Trash" folder in the left sidebar. 2. Click "Empty Trash now" at the top of the page.
Step 3: Remove Unwanted Google Drive Files
Remember that your Gmail storage also includes Google Drive files. Therefore, removing unwanted files from Google Drive can also help free up space in your Gmail account. This includes both files and folders.
Step 4: Delete Large Emails
Large emails, particularly those with attachments, consume a significant amount of storage space. You can search for these emails and delete them to free up space. Use the following search format: size:10000000 (This will show all mails larger than 10MB).
Step 5: Purchase Additional Storage
If you’ve tried all of these steps and are still running out of space, you may consider purchasing additional storage from Google. Plans start at $1.99/month for 100GB.
By following these steps, you can easily free up storage space in your Gmail account, ensuring that your email continues to function efficiently. Remember to regularly clean up your email to prevent storage issues in the future.