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bulk delete of older email and unread email

DE_
I plan to stick around

I would like to delete say all email 5 years or older (goes back 10+ years) and say all unread email of 2 years or older.  Is there some simple way to do this ?   

 

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Re: bulk delete of older email and unread email

57
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

I'm not sure if there is a way to do this, however, I have found that if you try to delete very many e-mails at the same time it can wreak havoc with the e-mail client or whatever you're using.

 

Instead of doing this, I recommend you go to the particular folder and start at the bottom. Click the oldest e-mail and "shift-click" an e-mail about 50-100 e-mails removed from that one to highlight say 100. Then click "delete". Wait until that function has been completed and do it again a few times.  Do not try to delete say 1000 e-mails at a time.    Come back sometime later and repeat the process.  I do this to remove e-mails from my "deleted" folder in Outlook, however, I once tried to delete a huge number and the Outlook database "blew up" and I needed to run a recovery  process, so I don't recommend bulk deletion that puts a strain on the system in question.  Hope that helps.

Re: bulk delete of older email and unread email

Shesammy
I'm here a lot

Is there a way to “select all” in an inbox so I can bulk delete?

Re: bulk delete of older email and unread email

57
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@Shesammy : That depends on what you're talking about.  If you're talking about Webmail, I have a box near the top of the list with a down arrow beside it.  If I click on that box it selects all the items in that folder and then you can delete.

 

If you're talking about doing it in an e-mail client like Outlook, you can click on one e-mail, then "shift-click" on an e-mail that is "far away" from that first one. This will highlight those e-mails and all the e-mails in between. You should then be able to hit "delete" to delete them all.  However, as I stated earlier in this thread, I don't recommend doing too many at once.  Select say 50 at once and only do this several times leaving a few seconds between deletes, otherwise your client may crash causing damage to your database.

 

https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/s/shifclic.htm

 

https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-do-i-select-multiple-items-with-shift-click

Re: bulk delete of older email and unread email

Shesammy
I'm here a lot
You are awesome!!! Thank you!!!
`°•.¸¸.•°``°``°•.¸¸.•°
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