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Gmail Cleanup Script

A simple yet effective Google Apps Script to keep your Gmail inbox clean and organized by automatically removing unwanted emails based on customizable criteria.

Features

  • Automatically removes emails based on Gmail search queries
  • Configurable for different categories, labels, and time criteria
  • Respects starred emails
  • Batch processing to handle large volumes of email
  • Detailed logging of operations

How It Works

By default, the script is configured to remove:

  • Emails in the "Promotions" category
  • That are in the inbox
  • That are NOT starred
  • That are older than 1 year

Installation

  1. Open Google Apps Script
  2. Create a new project
  3. Copy and paste the code from the gmail-cleanup.js file
  4. Save the project with a descriptive name (e.g., "Gmail Cleanup")

Usage

Manual Execution

  1. Open your Google Apps Script project
  2. Select the runCleanup function from the dropdown menu
  3. Click the play button (▶️) to run the script
  4. First time, you'll need to authorize the script to access your Gmail

Automatic Execution (Scheduled)

  1. In your Google Apps Script project, click on the clock icon in the sidebar (⏰)
  2. Click "Add Trigger"
  3. Configure the trigger:
    • Select the cleanup function
    • Choose event source as "Time-driven"
    • Select desired frequency (daily, weekly, etc.)
    • Configure specific time for execution
  4. Save the trigger

Customization

Modify Search Criteria

Edit the queryArray to include your own search queries. Google Apps Script uses the same search syntax as Gmail.

Useful query examples:

const queryArray = [
  "category:promotions in:inbox AND -in:starred older_than:",  // Old promotions
  "category:social in:inbox AND -in:starred older_than:",      // Old social
  "label:newsletter older_than:",                              // Old newsletters
  "from:example.com AND -in:starred older_than:",              // Old emails from a specific domain
];

Modify Time Periods

Edit the delayInfo array to change the time period for each query:

const delayInfo = [
  {index: 0, type: "year", value: 1},   // 1 year for query at position 0
  {index: 1, type: "month", value: 6},  // 6 months for query at position 1
  {index: 2, type: "day", value: 30},   // 30 days for query at position 2
  {index: 3, type: "month", value: 3}   // 3 months for query at position 3
];

Precautions

  • Test First: Before scheduling automatic runs, execute the script manually to verify it works as expected.
  • Backups: Consider backing up important emails.
  • Trash: Emails are moved to trash, not immediately permanently deleted.

License

MIT — © 2026 Ranuk IT Solutions | ranuk.dev

Contributions

Contributions are welcome. Feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request.