E-mail is excellent for sending messages, pictures, and documents to other users. But, like its physical form, you’re bound to get some mail you don’t want (often called spam). In other cases, there are messages users would like to hold on to for one reason or another. To keep your inbox clean and organized, you must delete or move old or unwanted e-mail messages. Select your e-mail client from the list below and follow the instructions.
Google Gmail
Log into your Gmail account.
On the left side of the window, select the folder from which you’d like to delete or move messages.
Google Gmail
Microsoft Outlook online (formerly Hotmail)
Yahoo! Mail
E-mail on iPhone or iPad
Once you’ve selected your folder, you have a few options:
Deleting a single message
Right-click the message you’d like to delete and then select Delete from the drop-down menu that appears.
Deleting or moving multiple messages
- Click the checkbox(s) next to each messages you’d like to delete or move.
You may select every message on the page by clicking the Select checkbox (shown below) above the message list window.
- To delete messages, click the trash icon in the bar above the folder window (A). To move messages, click the folder icon (B), then select the appropriate destination from the drop-down menu that appears.
Microsoft Outlook online (formerly Hotmail)
Log into your Microsoft Outlook.com e-mail account.
On the left side of the window, select the folder from which you’d like to delete or move messages.
Once the folder is open, there are a few options for deleting and moving mail:
Delete a single message
To delete a single message, move your mouse over the message and click the trash can icon that appears.
Delete multiple messages
To delete multiple messages, move your mouse over each message and click the checkbox that appears next to them.
Once you’ve made your message selections, click the icon at the top of the window.
Moving messages
- To move messages, place your mouse over each message and click the checkbox that appears next to them.
You can delete every message shown in the current window by clicking the button.
- After making your selections, click the down arrow on the icon (above the open folder’s window), then select a destination folder from the drop-down menu that appears.
Yahoo! Mail
Log into your Yahoo! e-mail account.
On the left side of the window, underneath the button, select the folder from which you’d like to delete or move messages.
Once the folder is open, there are a few options for deleting or moving your messages:
To delete a single message, move your mouse over the date next to the message (it’s on the far right side). Click the red that appears to remove that mail entry.
To delete multiple messages, click the checkboxes that appear next to them.
Once you’ve made your message selections, click the icon near the top of the window.
To move messages, click the checkboxes that appear next to them.
You can select every message in the current window by clicking the icon above the message list.
- Once you’ve made your message selections, click the icon (located above the open folder’s window), then select a destination folder from the drop-down menu that appears.
E-mail on iPhone or iPad
Delete a single e-mail message
E-mail messages viewed through the Mail app on an iPhone or iPad can be deleted one at a time by following the steps below.
- Open the Mail app on the iPhone or iPad.
- In the Mail app, find the e-mail message you want to delete. Using your finger, swipe from right to left on that e-mail message.
- Three options appear on the right side of the e-mail message. Tap the Trash option to delete the message.
OR
- In the Mail app, tap the e-mail message you want to delete.
- On the e-mail view screen, tap the Trash icon at the bottom.
Delete multiple e-mails
If you want to delete multiple e-mail messages at one time, follow the steps below.
- In the Mail app, tap the Edit option at the top-right of the Inbox screen.
- To the left of each e-mail message, a bubble is visible. Tap each e-mail message you want to delete so the bubble is blue with a checkmark.
- After selecting the messages to be deleted, tap the Trash option at the bottom right of the Inbox screen.
Related information
- How to delete all e-mails at once.
- How to recover deleted e-mail messages.
- How to delete an e-mail account or address.
- How to download, open, and save e-mail attachments.
- How to add and remove e-mail contacts.
- How to block or unblock an e-mail address.
- How to create or delete a folder in e-mail.
- How to download, open, and save e-mail attachments.
- How to send an attachment or photo through e-mail.
- How to forward or re-send an e-mail message.
- E-mail help and support.
