How to empty trash in Gmail

The short answer

Open Gmail, click “Trash” in the left sidebar, then click “Empty Trash now” at the top of the page to permanently delete all trashed emails.

How to empty trash on desktop

1. Open Gmail in your web browser
2. Click Trash in the left sidebar (you may need to click More to see it)
3. At the top of the page, you’ll see a message saying “Messages that have been in Trash more than 30 days will be automatically deleted”
4. Click “Empty Trash now” next to that message
5. Confirm by clicking OK

This permanently deletes every email in your trash. There is no way to undo this.

How to empty trash on the Gmail app

• Open the Gmail app on your phone
• Tap the hamburger menu (three lines) in the top left
• Scroll down and tap Trash
• Tap “Empty Trash now” at the top
• Confirm the deletion

To delete individual emails instead

If you only want to remove specific emails from trash, open the trash folder, select the emails you want gone, and tap the delete forever icon. This lets you keep some trashed emails while permanently removing others.

What happens to trashed emails?

• Emails in trash are automatically deleted after 30 days — you don’t have to do anything
• Emptying trash just speeds up that process
• Once permanently deleted, emails cannot be recovered through Gmail
• Deleted emails free up Google storage space, which is shared across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos

When should you empty your trash?

You only need to manually empty trash if:

• You’re running low on Google storage and need space immediately
• You deleted emails with sensitive information and don’t want them sitting in trash for 30 days
• You want to clean things up right away

Otherwise, Gmail handles it automatically. Trashed emails disappear on their own after 30 days.