by Here's a step-by-step guide on how to delete multiple emails from Outlook by date, sender, or specific conditions to keep your mailbox clean and organized with minimal effort.
If your Outlook inbox is cluttered with unwanted messages, bulk deleting emails can help you clean up quickly while keeping important ones intact. This article primarily focuses on the new Outlook and web app, which offer several efficient tools for bulk deletion, while also providing tips for the classic desktop application.
How to delete mass emails in Outlook
To quickly remove all messages from a specific Outlook folder, the fastest method is to right-click the folder and select Empty or Delete All, depending on your Outlook version.
But what if you want to keep recent messages or a few important emails? In that case, follow these steps in the new Outlook or web app:
- Select the folder that contains the emails you want to delete.
- Click Select above the email list to enable bulk selection.
- Check the box next to the folder name to highlight all emails.
- Deselect the emails you want to keep by clicking on them while holding the Ctrl key.
- Press the Delete key or click the trash bin icon in the ribbon.
That's it! The selected messages will be moved to the Deleted Items folder.
Mass deleting emails in classic Outlook
The classic Outlook app doesn't have the same selection option. Instead, you can use the shortcut method:
- Press Ctrl + A to select all emails in the folder.
- Deselect emails you want to keep by holding Ctrl and clicking on them.
- Press Delete or Ctrl + D to remove the remaining emails.
Tip. To free up space in Outlook, make sure to empty the Deleted Items and Recoverable Items folders after deleting emails. For more details, see How to permanently delete Outlook emails.
How to sweep multiple Outlook emails by sender
If you want to quickly remove all emails from a specific sender (optionally, keeping the latest ones), the Sweep feature in the new Outlook and web app makes it easy. Here's how:
- Select an email from the sender whose messages you want to eliminate.
- On the Home tab in the ribbon, click Sweep.
- Choose one of the available options:
- Delete all messages from this sender.
- Remove all existing and future messages.
- Keep the latest message and delete the rest.
- Delete messages older than 10 days.
- Ensure Deleted Items is selected in the Move to dropdown (default).
- Click OK to perform the selected action.
Done. Outlook will instantly handle the deletion for you, leaving only the messages you choose to keep.
Tips and notes:
- The Sweep feature works for Inbox and custom folders but is not available in Junk, Drafts, Sent Items, or Deleted Items.
- Besides mass deleting emails, you can use this feature to move all messages from a specific person to any folder of your choice.
- If you choose to remove all current and future emails, Outlook creates a rule to automate this process. Click View Rules to review, edit, temporarily disable, or delete the rule.
Deleting mass emails from a certain sender in classic Outlook
Since the Sweep feature is unavailable in the classic (old) Outlook app, you can find and remove emails from a specific sender using search filters:
- Open the folder of interest.
- In the Instant Search box, type the following criteria: from:name (where name is the sender's actual name or email address).
- Hit Enter to display all messages from that sender in the current mailbox.
- Use the Search tab to refine the scope if needed – options include current mailbox (default), current folder, all mailboxes, subfolders, or all Outlook items.
- Press Ctrl + A to select all filtered emails.
- Press Delete to remove them.
For example, to find and delete all emails from Ablebits, you can use from:ablebits or from:support@ablebits.com as search criteria:
How to mass delete emails in Outlook by date
Microsoft Outlook provides several ways to delete emails by date. The method you choose depends on the size of your mailbox and how precise you need to be.
Quick method: Sort and delete
For smaller mailboxes or folders, the simplest way is to manually select emails by date:
- Sort your email list by the Received column.
- Select a range of emails: click the first message, scroll down, hold Shift, and click the last message within the desired date range.
- Press Ctrl + D to move them to the Deleted Items folder or Shift + Delete to remove the filtered messages permanently.
This method is fast, easy and works in all Outlook versions. However, for large mailboxes with thousands of emails, a more efficient approach is needed.
Delete Outlook emails between two dates
To quickly remove messages within a specific date range, you can use search filters:
- Select the target folder.
- In the search box, type the following criteria: received:start_date…end_date. Make sure to enter the dates in your system's default date, for example received:m/d/yyyy…m/d/yyyy.
- Press Enter to display emails within the specified range.
- Press Ctrl + A to select all filtered emails.
- Press Ctrl + D to remove them.
For example, to delete emails received between 1-Jan-2025 and 31-Jan-2025, use the criteria received:1/1/2025…1/31/2025.
Tip. To ensure you use the correct date format in your search, check how dates appear in the Received column of Outlook. Alternatively, find your system's default date format in Control Panel > Region.
Remove old emails in a folder at once
In the new Outlook and web app, there is yet another quick way to delere emails older than a specific time frame:
- Click the Settings gear icon in the upper-right corner.
- In the left pane, go to Accounts > Storage.
- Under Manage storage, locate the folder you want to clean up.
- Click the arrow next to Empty and choose one of the options:
- All messages in the folder.
- Messages older than 3 months, 6 months, or 12 months.
This way, you can clean up an Outlook folder in just a couple of clicks, without manually selecting messages.
How to delete all emails that match a condition
To automate the deletion of unwanted emails in Outlook based on specific criteria, set up a rule. This ensures future emails matching the condition are removed automatically.
Here are the steps to create a deletion rule:
- Create a new email rule:
- In the new Outlook and web app: Go to Settings > Mail > Rules > Add new rule.
- In classic Outlook: Click Rules > Manage Rules & Alerts > New Rule.
- Set your condition(s). Choose criteria such as:
- Emails from a specific sender.
- Messages containing certain words in the subject.
- Emails received before or after a specific date.
- Choose Delete as the action.
- To apply the rule to existing emails, select Run rule now (optional).
- Save the rule.
From now on, Outlook will automatically delete all new emails matching the condition.
For more information, please refer to:
Note. Outlook rules only apply to the Inbox folder. To clean up other folders, use the methods discussed in the previous sections.
How to empty Deleted Items folder automatically
In classic desktop Outlook, you can configure Outlook Auto Archive to automatically delete old emails from the Deleted Items folder every few days. Here's how to set it up:
- Right-click the Deleted Items folder and select Properties.
- In the Properties dialog box, go to the AutoArchive tab.
- Choose Archive this folder using these settings and define how many days old emails should be before deletion.
- Select Permanently delete old items and click OK.
That's it! Outlook will now automatically clear out old emails from the Deleted Items folder based on your chosen schedule. For example, if your auto archive is set to run every 14 days, your deleted emails will be permanently removed every two weeks.
Tip. Want to clean up junk emails the same way? Repeat these steps for the Junk Email folder.
With these simple methods, keeping your Outlook inbox clutter-free is easy. Whether you're clearing out old emails, removing messages from a specific sender, or setting up rules for automatic cleanup, you're in control of your inbox.