Last Updated on July 5, 2026
If you use any type of email service, then you are most likely used to receiving more emails than you want or need. And deleting old or junk emails can be time consuming if you do not keep up with it on a regular basis. Most people who have been using the same email address for years will have years of email messages in their inbox and most of the time they just leave them there because it’s easier than deleting them all.
If you are a Gmail user, then you most likely have several pages of emails in your inbox as well as the other categories such as Promotions and Updates. If you want to clean up your inbox, then there is a fairly easy way to do so. In this article, we will be showing you how to have Gmail delete emails older than a certain date of your choosing.
To perform this cleanup task, we will be using the filter option that comes with the search feature in Gmail. The image below shows the oldest email in our Updates and Promotions categories. We will be deleting all the emails that are dated older than 12/10/2022.
Accessing the Gmail Filter Settings
1. Open the Main Settings Menu
To begin the process, we will be going to the main Gmail settings. Click on the gear icon at the upper right of the page. Then click on the See all settings button at the top of the drop down menu.
2. Navigate to the Filters Tab
We will then go to the Filters and Blocked Addresses section. You can find this tab located at the very top of the page next to the General tab. This page lists all the active rules currently running on your account.
3. Create a New Filter
Next, look at the middle of the screen below the list of active filters. Click on the Create a new filter link. A small search window will drop down from the top search bar.
Configuring the Date Deletion Parameters
1. Understand the Date Syntax
Before you create this new filter, you will need to decide how far back you want to delete. You can use the specific syntax older_than:X for the filter. Use y for years, m for months, and d for days.
2. Calculate the Time Frame
One thing to keep in mind is that you cannot add an exact date to this filter. It will have to be X number of days, months or years from the current date. Since today is 7/10/24 we will need to figure out how many months are from 12/10/22 to 7/10/24. So, there were 12 months in 2023 and 7 months have passed in 2024 so we will go back exactly 19 months.
3. Enter the Filter Criteria
To accomplish this, we will use older_than:19m for our filter. Type this exact text in on the line that says Has the words. Then click on the Create filter button at the bottom of the window.
4. Acknowledge the Warning Message
You may receive a warning message saying this type of filter is not recommended to use. Gmail warns you because date based filters will never match incoming live mail. You can just click on the OK button to bypass this warning.
Executing the Deletion Command
1. Select the Delete Action
On the next screen, you will see a list of actions you can take. You will need to check the box for Delete it. You must also check the box to Also apply filter to matching conversations.
2. Run the Filter
Then click on the Create filter button and the emails will be permanently deleted. One thing to keep in mind is that the process may take several minutes if you are deleting hundreds or thousands of messages at once.
3. Edit the Filter for Future Use
Now that you have your filter created, you can then go back to the Filters and Blocked Addresses section and edit the filter as needed. For example, you can change the range to older_than:30d if you want to delete all emails older than 30 days automatically. You can also create a brand new filter if you do not want to edit the existing one.
4. Restore Deleted Emails
If you need to restore any of the emails that were accidentally deleted by the filter, you can go to your trash folder and restore them as needed. Just keep in mind that Google will automatically delete emails from your trash after 30 days. Many times this doesn’t happen immediately, and they stay there longer or indefinitely, but you should act fast to be safe.
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