How to Delete Old Emails in Gmail (Older Than a Date)

Short answer: To delete old emails in Gmail, search older_than:1y (or before:2023/01/01 for a fixed date), tick the select-all box, click Select all conversations that match this search, and click Delete. Add -is:starred -is:important to keep the mail you flagged. To delete only a newsletter's old issues and keep its recent ones, Gmail Cleaner can apply an age filter per sender.

Gmail has no "auto-delete after a year" setting, but date searches make a one-off cleanup quick. This guide covers the date part; the complete guide to mass deleting Gmail covers senders, sizes and everything else.

Gmail date searches

• older_than:1y — older than one year. Use d for days, m for months, y for years: older_than:90d, older_than:6m.
• before:2023/01/01 — received before 1 January 2023.
• after:2020/01/01 before:2021/01/01 — everything from 2020 only.
• newer_than:7d — the opposite: mail from the last week.

You can combine a date with anything else:

• category:promotions older_than:3m — promotions older than three months.
• category:social older_than:1m — old social-network notifications.
• is:unread older_than:6m — mail you never opened in half a year.
• from:@example.com before:2024/01/01 — one company's old mail.
• older_than:2y -is:starred -is:important — old mail, minus what you flagged.

How to delete emails older than a date in Gmail

1. Open Gmail in a desktop browser.
2. Type a date search, for example older_than:2y -is:starred, and press Enter.
3. Scroll the results and open a few. Old threads often hold receipts, tickets and documents.
4. Tick the select-all checkbox at the top left of the list.
5. Click Select all conversations that match this search in the banner above the list.
6. Click the Delete icon and confirm with OK.

The emails move to Trash and are permanently deleted 30 days later. Until then you can restore them, and they still count towards your storage.

Use the search options panel instead of typing

Click the Show search options icon (the sliders) at the right of the search bar. Set Date within to a range around a date, or fill Has the words with older_than:1y, then click Search. It produces the same search as typing.

Delete old newsletters but keep recent issues

A common goal is "keep this month's newsletter, delete the last five years of it". Manually, that is one search per sender: from:newsletter@example.com older_than:1m, select all matching, delete, repeat.

Gmail Cleaner does it for every sender you select in one run.

1. Open Gmail in Chrome and open Gmail Cleaner from the extension icon. It opens in the side panel.
2. Scan for mailing lists. Gmail Cleaner lists the senders Gmail identifies as newsletters and mailing lists, with counts.
3. Select the senders to clean.
4. Choose delete and set the age filter, so only emails older than the age you pick are removed.
5. Leave keep starred and keep important on if you want those protected.
6. Start the run. The matching emails move to Gmail Trash.

Scanning is free, and up to 100 emails a day can be moved to Trash on the free plan; paid access removes the daily limit. Gmail Cleaner works on the senders its mailing-list scan finds — for a date cleanup across all of your mail, the Gmail search above is the right tool.

Can Gmail delete old emails automatically?

Not by age. Gmail filters act on new mail as it arrives, so there is no rule that keeps deleting mail once it turns a year old. What you can do:

• Repeat the older_than: search every few months. Gmail remembers recent searches, so it takes a minute.
• Create a filter with Delete it for senders whose mail you never need to keep — see how to stop unwanted emails in Gmail.

Gmail does auto-delete two places for you: Trash and Spam are emptied of anything older than 30 days.

FAQ

How do I delete all emails before a certain date in Gmail?

Search before:YYYY/MM/DD, tick select-all, click Select all conversations that match this search, and click Delete.

What is the difference between older_than and before?

older_than:1y is relative to today, so the same search catches more mail next month. before:2023/01/01 is a fixed date and always returns the same range.

Will deleting old emails free up storage?

Yes, once they leave Trash. Empty Trash after you have checked the batch, or wait 30 days. See how to free up Gmail storage.

Does the search include archived emails?

Yes. Gmail search covers All Mail, including archived messages. It does not include Trash and Spam unless you add in:anywhere.

Bottom line

older_than: and before: turn a decade of mail into one selection. Exclude starred and important mail, delete, check Trash, then empty it. For old newsletter issues across many senders, Gmail Cleaner applies the age filter for you — and if you want the newsletters gone for good, unsubscribe from them too.