Keeping your Gmail storage in check is essential to ensure that important emails continue to arrive without interruption. Since Gmail shares storage with Google Drive and Google Photos, the space can fill up faster than expected, often due to large attachments, old files, and backed-up media. When the account reaches its limit, new emails stop coming in, making timely clean-up an important routine task.
Why Gmail storage fills up quickly
Gmail counts everything — inbox messages, sent mail, drafts, attachments, Drive files, and Photos backups — toward the same storage limit. Even if your inbox looks manageable, years of attachments or uploaded videos may be consuming most of the space. Deleted items in Trash and Spam also continue to occupy storage until you remove them permanently.
How to clear Gmail storage
1. Empty Trash and Spam
Deleted emails stay in Trash for up to 30 days and still count toward the limit. Open both folders and permanently remove all items to free space instantly.
2. Delete large emails and attachments
Attachments are usually the biggest contributors. Use built-in Gmail filters such as has:attachment larger:10M to locate emails with files above 10MB. You can delete them in bulk or download important attachments before removing them from your account.
3. Remove newsletters and promotional emails
Promotions often pile up unnoticed. Visit the Promotions tab, select all, and delete. Unsubscribing from repetitive senders helps prevent future clutter.
4. Use Google One Storage Manager
Google’s official tool provides a detailed view of what’s taking up space across Gmail, Drive, and Photos. It highlights large files, old emails with attachments, and unnecessary items. You can review and delete everything from one interface, ensuring you don’t miss storage-heavy files outside Gmail.
Habits to avoid running out of space again
Make it a habit to clear old attachments and empty Trash regularly. Avoid sending large files directly via email — instead, upload them to Drive and share links. Review your storage every few months to stay below the limit.
Cleaning up your Gmail account takes only a few minutes but ensures smooth, uninterrupted email delivery when you need it most.
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