How to Delete Gmail Emails Faster on Android

Delete in bulk and swipe to delete for quicker email management

By
Jordan Baranowski
Jordan Baranowski
Jordan Baranowski
Writer
  • University of Kansas
  • Avila University
Jordan Baranowski is a former Lifewire writer and educator with experience writing for SVG, The Nerd Stash, and Feast Magazine.
lifewire's editorial guidelines
Updated on November 14, 2021
Reviewed by
Jon Fisher
Jon Fisher headshot
Reviewed by Jon Fisher
  • Wichita Technical Institute
Jonathan Fisher is a CompTIA certified technologist with more than 6 years' experience writing for publications like TechNorms and Help Desk Geek.
lifewire's editorial guidelines

What to Know

  • Tap the icon to the left of the emails you want to delete. Then tap the Delete icon.
  • Enable swipe deleting: Tap three horizontal lines > Settings > General settings > Swipe actions > Change > Delete.

This article explains how to delete Gmail emails in the official Gmail app for Android by deleting multiple emails at the same time or by swiping to delete single emails.

How to Delete Multiple Gmail Emails at Once

Follow these steps to delete more than one email at a time or to delete Gmail emails in bulk.

  1. In the Gmail app for Android, open the folder that contains the emails you want to remove. If you don't see the app on your device, download the Gmail app from Google Play.

  2. Tap the icon to the left of each email that you want to delete Or, long-press the email to select it.

  3. Tap the Delete icon in the upper-right area of the screen.

    Checkbox for emails, Delete button in Gmail app on Android

There's no way to select every message in a folder using the Gmail app for Android. To remove every email in Gmail, access your account from a web browser.

How to Quickly Delete Single Gmail Emails

You can swipe one email after the other to quickly remove several messages. You don't even have to open an email to press the Delete icon.

To delete Gmail messages by setting up a swipe action:

  1. Tap the three horizontal lines in the upper-left portion of Gmail, then scroll down and select Settings.

  2. Go to General settings and tap Swipe actions.

  3. Tap Change next to Right swipe or Left swipe (this is the direction that you want to swipe to delete your emails).

    Select Delete in the list that appears.

    Change button, Delete checkbox, and right swipe to delete on Android Gmail app

  4. Tap the Back arrow to return to your email, and then swipe in the appropriate direction (left or right) to delete emails.

If your Gmail account is set up to use IMAP, removing Gmail emails from your Android also deletes them from other devices connected to your account using IMAP.

Was this page helpful?