How to mass unsubscribe on Gmail
502 new emails this month. Only 1 that you care about. We’ve all been there, and when it’s time to delete the junk and clean out your inbox, we got you. Here’s everything you need to know about mass unsubscribing on Gmail.
Quick tip: If you’re still manually deleting newsletters, it’s going to take a while, but we have the whole process listed out below. If you want to mass delete emails quickly, try Yorba.
Why your inbox is overflowing
A Yorba member receives 530 emails per month from mailing lists on average. Yikes. Here’s why it’s happening:
Subscriptions pile up. Every time you create an account online, download content, or buy something online, you have to create an account. Most people just do it without thinking, but that adds to the inbox noise.
Mailing lists get shared. We know that companies often share or sell their email lists, so even if you try to limit the number of accounts you create, the problem might not stop.
Notification emails are filling up your inbox. Apps and products are now sending a ton of notification emails (marked as “Transactional” so they hit your inbox).
You’ve probably felt the effects of this digital clutter (time wasted sorting through irrelevant emails, stress over the constant ding of email notifications, critical messages slipping through the cracks). The movement towards Inbox Zero isn’t simply for aesthetics; it’s about reclaiming your digital peace of mind.
Here’s how to get started by unsubscribing in Gmail:
Method 1: Gmail’s Built-in unsubscribe features
→ Log in to your Gmail account
→ Locate the email from the sender you’d like to unsubscribe from
→ Look for the Unsubscribe button in one of two places:
→ On hover in the email
→ In the footer
→ A confirmation message may pop up. Click to confirm unsubscribe.
Type “Unsubscribe” in your Gmail search bar
→ Right-click on each to open in a new tab
→ Locate the unsubscribe button and follow the instructions to complete the opt-out
Pro tip: Gmail may display a reason dialog asking for more information about why you’re unsubscribing. It’s not required, but sharing feedback may help improve your email system and algorithm overall.
Use Gmail’s Category Filters
Gmail sorts out promotional emails automatically, making it easier to unsubscribe.
→ Click on the “Promotions” tab in Gmail
→ Use the select all checkbox at the top of the list
→ Click “Delete” to remove the emails
→ Repeat in the “Updates” and “Forums” tabs
Important note: This only deletes emails and cleans your inbox; it doesn’t actually unsubscribe you from future ones.
Method 2: Advanced techniques
If you want to nerd out on email filtering a bit, stick with us. Gmail offers a surprisingly solid filtering system. Here’s how to do it.
→ Type in “subject:(newsletter)” or “from:(sender email)” in your search bar
→ Click the down arrow to open advanced search options
→ Click “Create Filter” at the bottom
→ Set the filter to either
Skip the inbox
Mark as read
Apply a label (e.g., Newsletters)
Delete it
Forward it to another address
Pro tip: You can explore complex filters like “from:(company.com)-important” to filter out all emails from a domain except the ones you mark as important.
Bulk Filters
If you want to try to do it all at once, you can create bulk filters.
→ Create a single filter first
Search for an email from a sender you want to filter out
Click the drop-down arrow in the search box
Enter your filtering criteria (e.g., “from:newsletter@website.com)”
Click “Create Filter”
Select the action (delete, skip inbox, etc.)
Save the filter
→ Export your existing filters
Click on the gear icon and then “See all settings”
Click on the “Filters and Blocked Addresses” tab
Scroll to the bottom and click Export filters
Save the XML file to your computer
→ Edit the XML file
Open the XML file in Notepad or a similar app
Look for the <entry> tags that contain filter information
Copy and existing filter entry and modify the values
For each new filter, duplicate an entry and change the <apps:propery name=”from”> value to the new sender
Keep the action properties the same
Save the file
→ Import the filters
Return to Gmail’s “Filters and Blocked Addresses” tab
Scroll to the bottom and click “Import Filters”
Upload your edited XML file
Select which filters to import
Click “Create Filters”
This is a good way to create hundreds of filters in minutes rather than manually digging through your email, but it is annoying.
Method 3: Third-party tools
Gmail’s tools can take you pretty far, but when you want a simpler solution, explore some third-party options. There are dedicated unsubscribe services that can help you manage subscriptions, but beware: many of these sell your information, leading to even more spam than before.
Yorba
Yorba is a digital tool that helps people unsubscribe in bulk, delete old accounts entirely, and protect their digital footprint.
Customers love how Yorba pulls together all their subscriptions and makes it simple to take action.
Yorba Costs
Free for up to 5 monthly unsubscribes
$30/quarter for a 90-day membership
$72/year for an annual subscription
Yorba Features:
Delete old accounts - Instead of simply helping you unsubscribe from newsletters you don’t want, Yorba finds all of the accounts you ever created with an email. So that online shopping platform you opened in 2005? It’s going to find it and, once it does, you can easily delete it, change your password, or keep it active if you want.
Find subscriptions - Just like it surfaces emails you don’t want, Yorba can find monthly subscriptions you’re paying for and help you see which are upcoming, which you may want to delete, and which you’re actually using. (Pro tip: this is great for individuals and businesses who have a lot of credit cards and random subscriptions.)
Monitor breaches - Those old accounts you have might be exposing your data to hackers and marketers, so Yorba alerts you when an account you’ve used in the past has been breached, and then makes it easy to delete the account, change your password, or (for more serious privacy breaches), take appropriate action.
Leave Me Alone
Allows you to unsubscribe from unwanted emails, create and filter out senders you don’t want to receive emails from.
Costs
Multiple plans available:
$96/year or $16/month for all features
$36/year or $9/month for limited features
$19/week for limited features
Free - unsubscribe from 10 emails
Features
Unsubscribe from emails - see all your subscription emails in one list and opt out.
Rollup digest - personalized collections of the chosen newsletters, sent as a single email.
Inbox Shield - when someone emails you for the first time, you can decide if you want to keep receiving their messages.
Choose LeaveMeAlone if you are looking for a straightforward tool to manage your newsletters.
CleanEmail
Costs
Multiple plans available:
$29.99/year or $9.99/month to connect 1 account
$49.99/year or $19.99/month to connect 5 accounts
$99.99/year or $29.99/month to connect 10 accounts
Main Features
Cleaning suggestions based on your preferences and community best practices. Bulk clean to delete emails from a specific date, senders, and recipients.
Smart Folders - predefined filters that gather messages from Social Networks, Rideshare, Food Delivery, Online shopping, etc.
Smart Filtering - distinguish emails sent by real people, from mailing lists, or generated by automated systems,
Screener - block all mail from unknown senders and add trusted email addresses, domains, and keywords to allow specific emails.
Choose CleanEmail if you want a complex app to sort out and clean your email, and don’t mind paying for solely email management.
Unroll.Me
Blocks unwanted emails and rolls up the rest into a single daily digest.
Costs
Unroll.Me is free for use. You pay by allowing them to read, organize, and resell your inbox data. Unroll.Me was sued by the FTC and is blocked in the EU for how they treat consumers’ data.
Features
When you mark a subscription as "Unsubscribed" in Unroll.Me, they automatically move all future emails from that sender to your mailbox's "Unroll.Me > Unsubscribed" folder.
So those emails still hit your inbox and take up space, but they get filed away so you don’t see them.
Roll up – a daily email of all new mail you received from your rolled-up subscriptions.
Choose Unroll.Me if you are ok with only getting a visibility of unsubscribe and having your data sold in return for this convenience.
What happens once I unsubscribe?
Once you unsubscribe from an email, there’s a long and mysterious process that happens in the background. Legally, the sender is required to remove you from the mailing list within 10 business days (in the United States and Canada), 5 business days in Australia.
Most email servers log the unsubscribe action and update their databases to ensure compliance and to demonstrate that they are honoring opt-out requests.
What happens if I unsubscribe but it’s not processed?
→ For U.S. Consumers: file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
→ For E.U. consumers, submit a complaint to your national Data Protection Authority under GDPR.
What happens when I file a complaint because an unsubscribe request wasn’t honored?
Companies are legally required to honor opt-out requests within 10 days. If the company is found to be in violation, hefty fines can be imposed (upwards of $53,000 per email that violates the law).
Experian, for example, had to pay $650,000 in 2023 for failing to honor opt-outs.
No one wants to spend their weekend unsubscribing one by one. Whether you go the DIY route or let a tool like Yorba do the heavy lifting, your inbox (and your peace of mind) will thank you.
