A Simple Trick for Deleting Hundreds of Emails From Your Gmail Inbox at Once

Neglecting your email inbox is a lot easier than ignoring the mail pile on your table at home. Though your inbox isn't exactly unlimited, Gmail offers plenty of free space for storing messages you never plan to read again but haven't gotten around to deleting. But just because you can ignore that ever-growing number next to your inbox tab doesn't mean you should. According to Lifehacker, there's an easy way to clear out your Gmail account in seconds.

To delete hundreds of emails from Gmail at once, start by typing "Label:all mail" into the search bar of your inbox. Between the search bar and your email list, you should see a row of filters for modifying your search. You can use them to narrow down your results to emails you know you want to get rid of permanently.

The time frame filter is a good place to start. If you haven't opened a message in over a year, you probably won't miss it from your inbox. Gmail also gives you the option to search for emails by sender or recipient if you want to remove a specific person from your digital life. When freeing up valuable gigabytes in your Google account is your goal, limit the results to emails that have attachments. These are likely the worst offenders when it comes to taking up space.

After creating a list of disposable emails, you can click the box in the top right corner to select the messages on the page and delete them. For lists greater than 50, you'll receive the prompt to "select all conversations that match this search," which allows you to check and delete all the emails at the same time. And if you remember an important email you want to save the moment you click the trash icon, don't panic—Gmail keeps files in the trash folder for 30 days before wiping them for good.

If you feel scatter-brained when you're online, poor digital hygiene may be to blame. Here are some more tips for organizing your digital life.

[h/t Lifehacker]