This article explains how to quickly erase emails in the official Gmail app for Android. You’ll learn how to send several emails to the trash at once and how to set up a swipe gesture to erase individual emails in seconds.

How to Delete Multiple Emails at Once in Gmail

If there are lots of emails you need to erase in bulk, or you want to trash every single email in a folder, follow these steps:

1. Tap the three-line menu at the top of the app, then pick a folder you want to erase emails from.

2. Tap the icon to the left of one of the messages you want to erase, then tap the second one, and so on, until you’ve made your selection. Or, if it’s easier, tap and hold the subject or preview to select an email.

   To select all the emails at once, choose just one, first, then tap Select all at the top.

   It’s fine to scroll past your selection to choose additional emails. If you scroll back up, you’ll notice that the app retains your selection. You can’t, however, switch between folders while one or more emails are selected.

3. Select the trash icon in the upper-right area of the screen.

   Depending on how you’ve configured your app, you might see a confirmation prompt before the emails are sent to the trash folder; tap OK. This is controlled by the Confirm before deleting option in the app’s settings.

How to Quickly Delete Single Gmail Emails

The above steps work just fine for deleting individual emails, but an even faster method is to swipe the message. Doing this skips the need to press the trash icon. Here’s how to set this up:

1. Tap the three horizontal lines in the upper-left portion of Gmail, then scroll down and select Settings.

2. Go to General settings > Swipe actions.

3. Tap Change next to Right swipe or Left swipe (pick the direction you plan to swipe to delete your emails). Tap Delete in the list that appears.

4. Tap the Back arrow a few times to return to your emails, then try out the new swipe gesture. Drag your finger from the left or right to the other side to instantly delete the email.