One of the most commonly asked questions regarding Gmail services right now is how Gmail treats the older emails in the Gmail inbox. Whether you are using the Gmail account for personal or business use, there are Google accounts specifically meant for businesses, still how Google handles email messages in these cases is quite similar. Although there is no clear indication that Gmail will automatically delete emails from your inbox or achieves, whether or not you are approaching the storage limit, knowing how long Gmail keeps emails is important.
Most Gmail users assume that Gmail deletes any old emails by default after a while. Some other Gmail users have reported that Gmail archives the emails or messages themselves.
When it comes to old emails in Gmail, the service follows clear guidelines. It seems that the larger part of this decision lies in the hands of the Gmail user itself. Even though Gmail has little role in handling old emails, here is how Gmail users can check the space occupied by their current emails, and also the remaining space to find out.
One of the most common queries related to the Gmail service is the way it treats the older emails in the inbox. It is often assumed that the older emails are deleted by default after a while or else be archived by the service provider itself.
Gmail has clear guidelines to follow when it comes to older emails and lion’s share of the decisions on older emails are taken by the user only. Gmail has little to no role in handling the older emails most of the time.
How long does Gmail keep emails?
Gmail does not delete the mails from any inbox unless instructed by the user. Most Gmail accounts come with a storage space of 15GB and every mail except the ones in the trash folder remains there until deleted by the user.
The users can check the space occupied by the current mails and the space remaining through the following steps.
Step 1.Click on the Settings icon that appears in the top right corner of the window.
Step 2.Choose the Accounts and Import section of the settings.
Step 3.Scroll down and find the Additional storage section to find out about the storage space.
What if the user wants any emails to be deleted?
In case the user wants to delete any particular email,
Step 1.Select the emails to be deleted.
Step 2.Click on the delete icon that appears on the top of the window.
What are the exceptions to Gmail’s no-delete policy?
There are certain instances in which Gmail delete the mails and some of them are as follows.
Deleting the mail in the trash
The emails that are deleted by the user are immediately moved into the trash folder of the Gmail account and remain there for up to 30 days. Either the user can delete them as and when required or else Gmail will delete them after 30 days.
Deleting spam mails
The mails that are filtered by the user as spam got moved to the spam folder in the account and they are also deleted after 30 days by Gmail on its own.
An instance of account inactivity
After a particular period of inactivity, Google can decide to whether retain the account or not, and most of the time, the account gets deleted along with emails present in it. The user will receive an alert intimating the same.
What will happen if the Gmail account eventually runs out of space?
The 15GB storage space provided initially by the Gmail account may get exhausted over a large period and eventually it may run out of space for the new mails. In case of such an occurrence, the newer mails will not be able to get into the inbox and rather bounce back to the original sender.
The solution of such an instance is to either clear out the mails in proper intervals or to purchase additional space.
To purchase additional space, go to the previously mentioned Accounts and Import section of the settings and choose the Additional Storage subsection there. An option to purchase additional storage will be visible there.
