How I Finally Hit Delete: A Simple Process for Digital Decluttering

My attitude toward digital clutter hasn’t always been a proactive one. The phrase “outta sight, outta mind” sums it up well. 

Sure, I had a ton of emails in my inbox, but since I couldn’t see them all at once, the ever-growing message count didn’t bother me. 

The same went for photos on my iPhone. Yes, the amount was slowly reaching an unthinkable number, but I couldn’t see them all at once, so it wasn’t really that overwhelming. 

I’d always wanted to get rid of my digital clutter, but never truly found the motivation to do it. 

Decluttering material possessions always felt rewarding. Donating a no longer loved or needed item meant someone else could benefit from it. Plus, physical decluttering left clear space, which helped our home function better and improved the way I felt.

Deleting digital clutter wouldn’t bless anyone, wouldn’t benefit our home, and wouldn’t help me breathe easier in it.

Last week, I finally found the motivation I needed to declutter my email inbox. Turns out—no surprise here—if you rarely hit delete, you hit a storage limit. After accumulating 12,519 emails, I got a shiny red notice from Google saying that I had two choices: buy more storage space or stop receiving emails. I wasn’t about to buy more storage, which meant I was suddenly forced to hit delete if I wanted to keep my account.

Now the question was how.

I decided to use the basic principles I’d used to declutter my physical possessions and apply them to my digital belongings:

• Decide to declutter, decide why, decide when, set reasonable boundaries for your stuff, keep only your favorites or most needed, make room for the new, and develop a maintenance routine.

Here’s how I recently used this process to delete over 11,000 emails and bring my inbox to zero.

1. Decide to do it 

The first step, in anything, is to fully commit to the project. I’d decided it was finally time to delete unneeded emails and was all in.

2. Decide why you want to declutter 

I wanted to keep my email address and didn’t want to pay for more storage. The email from Google saying that if I didn’t upgrade, then I would no longer receive emails was enough motivation for me to take action. 

3. Decide when you’ll work on your decluttering project

I decided I wanted to spend 45 minutes, twice a day for a week (if needed) on this project. For me, these had to be times when my laptop was out of reach of toddler hands, so I chose around 6 am and 9 pm as my work times. 

4. Set reasonable boundaries 

I thought that I could delete at least 10,000 emails, so I made that my goal. If I could get rid of more than that, I decided I would try. But 10,000 would be the minimum number to delete.

5. Keep only your favorites or most needed

I wasn’t about to look at every email, but did want to keep my favorites. I opened the notes app on my MacBook and listed all the emails I could think of that I loved or needed. I knew I wanted to keep emails containing family videos, a recent resume, and those related to my blog. Brainstorming throughout the day, I added several more emails to my “keep list,” such as meaningful emails from friends and notes from my late grandfather.

During designated work times, I began finding and opening the emails I wanted to save. I decided to forward these old emails to myself so all the emails I wanted to keep were at the top of my inbox. This would make deleting the rest of them much faster. (If the emails you want/need to keep are already at the top of your inbox, such as all emails from the last year, there’s clearly no need to forward them).

6. Make room for the new

Once the emails on my “keep list” were all at the top of my inbox, I then went through, page by page, and began deleting the rest. Since I had a ton of old emails (from up to 14 years ago), I didn’t scan the pages, but selected the entire page and just hit delete. If I hadn’t needed those emails for 14 years, I didn’t need them now.

I decided I wanted my inbox empty, but wasn’t sure how to do this because Gmail uses labels instead of folders. With a bit more research, I found this short tutorial, which walked me through creating labels and archiving emails. My inbox was now empty.

In four days, I had emptied my email inbox, deleted over 11,000 emails and kept only the emails I still needed and loved. I also cleared up significant storage space in my Gmail account.

7. Develop a maintenance routine 

I wanted to develop a “touch it once” rule for emails in my inbox. I would read it and respond, delete it, or archive it. Read more here for tips on processing email.

Decluttering my inbox was surprisingly rewarding, both practically and sentimentally. Fewer emails made organizing and accessing them much easier.

I could also enjoy those that felt more like treasures. I began showing my daughter old videos of herself as a baby, which had previously been buried in my inbox. I printed and hung a poem about slow living that my grandfather had sent me years ago (you can read it online here). I was able to enjoy other sentimental emails I hadn’t read in years (likes notes from my husband from when we were dating). 

Tackling digital clutter can feel overwhelming (especially if you have as much as I did), but, with a plan, it doesn’t have to be.

The truth is that our digital clutter must be dealt with. 

“Outta sight, outta mind” soon becomes “Upgrade for more storage, at this cost.” 

Whether it’s your email inbox or iPhone photo collection, applying these basic decluttering principles will allow you to finally hit delete.

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Julia Ubbenga is a freelance journalist whose teachings on minimalism, simplicity, and intentional living have reached thousands of people worldwide through her blog. Julia practices what she preaches in her Kansas City apartment home with her husband, two extremely lively young daughters, and newborn son. You can also find her on Instagram.