How to delete all emails in the Gmail app on iPhone – Guide

It’s estimated that the average person receives 126 emails per day, and as it’s very easy to add contacts in the app, you can amass a ton of emails in a short time.

So, if you’ve found yourself with an accumulation of hundreds or thousands of emails in your account, you may be wondering how to delete all emails in the Gmail app at once.

Unfortunately, there is no way to delete all emails at once on the Gmail app. However, we’ve found a way to work around that.

In this article, we’re giving you a simple step-by-step guide showing you how to delete all of your Gmail emails on an iPhone.

How to delete all emails in Gmail app – iPhone Guide

One of the most useful features of the Gmail app is the custom tabs feature. This feature allows you to manage your inbox easier by splitting up your emails into Primary, Promotions and Social categories. 

This makes it easier for you to search for a specific email in your inbox, since you’ll know where to look for it. And if you’re using a ‘search’, Gmail will look through a smaller amount of emails to help you get to it quicker.

Although, you may find that every now and again, your phone turns into a bit of an email graveyard and you need to have a cleanout.

Gmail doesn’t make this a very easy task, but there is a way to work around it. While you can’t delete all emails for the sub-folder or your general inbox, all you need to do is access your Gmail account from a third-party email app. 

In this case, on an iPhone you can simply access your Gmail account in the ‘Mail’ app and delete all emails from there. This will allow you to mass delete emails on Gmail, which isn’t usually possible.

First, you’ll need to set up your Gmail account in the Mail app. To do this, follow the steps below:

1. Install the Mail app on your iPhone
2. Hit ‘Edit’ in the top right-hand corner
3. Hit ‘New Mailbox’ on the bottom right-hand corner
4. Input your Gmail email address
5. Select Gmail as the ‘mailbox location’
6. Hit ‘Done’

You’ll then be able to access your Gmail emails from your Mail app. Since this app allows you to delete all emails at once, you’ll not be able to delete all of your emails. 

To delete all of your Gmail emails in the mail app. Follow the below steps:

1. Open the ‘Gmail’ folder in the mail app
2. Hit ‘Edit’ on the top right-hand corner
3. Hit ‘Select All’ on the top-left to select all emails in your inbox
4. Hit ‘Move’, then select ‘Bin’ 

All the emails in your Gmail inbox will now move to the bin. Once you navigate back to your Gmail app, you’ll see that your emails will now be in the Bin folder. 

If you have a cluttered inbox, this is a great way to clear it out completely by simply having the ability to click delete.

How to delete multiple emails at once in the Gmail app

However, at times you may find you don’t want to delete all emails in your Gmail inbox, but only certain ones. 

This is something that you are able to do in the Gmail app. This is where the inbox categories are particularly useful. Since you’ll likely want to delete emails like annoying promotions or social media notifications you can easily navigate to that inbox and select the emails you wish you delete. 

To delete multiple emails at once in the Gmail app, follow the following steps:

1. Navigate to your general, primary, social or promotions folder
2. Tap and hold on the first email you want to delete until it turns blue with a tick on the left side
3. Once you’ve selected all emails to delete, tap on the bin icon on the top right-hand corner

Your emails will then be moved to the bin in your email account. 

Delete Gmail emails on a desktop

If you have access to a laptop or PC, you may just find it easier to delete all emails on there rather than doing so on your iPhone or iPad. 

It’s certainly much easier to do this. All you need to do is:

1. Sign in to your Gmail account on desktop.
2. Go to your inbox or email sub-folder.
3. Select the first email you wish to delete by hitting the square on the left side of the email.
4. A ribbon will then appear above your emails. Tap on the icon to the left-hand side.
5. Hit Select > All.
6. Hit the bin icon.

This will move all selected emails to the bin in your Gmail account. If you have a lot of unwanted emails, it can be worth logging in to your Desktop to delete them.

Conclusion

It’s a little frustrating that Gmail doesn’t provide a simpler way to delete all emails in the app. Especially being the most popular email client today. 

With the number of emails we all receive every hour of every day, we can only hope that Gmail comes up with an easier solution to deleting emails in the app. 

However, as we’ve shown here, there is a pretty easy way to work around that. Read more troubleshooting Gmail articles here.