I Thought My Gmail Inbox Was Toast. Then I Got Back 15GB of Free Storage

After years of accumulating messages in my Gmail account, I used up my 15GB of free storage. I'd had my account since 2008, and I didn't want to spend hours sifting through those ancient messages, deciding which ones to keep or delete. I thought my only other option was to pay for more storage. Luckily, I didn't have to: I found a way to clear out massive amounts of storage in minutes, and I didn't lose a single important email in the process.

All I had to do was create a second Gmail account to store all of my current messages. There's no restriction on the number of free Google accounts you can own, which means I could set one up as a dedicated archive account and then transfer all of my old emails to it. This strategy is particularly useful if you have a school or business Gmail account that you won't be able to access permanently.

Most universities and businesses will deactivate your account once you're no longer a student or employee, so if you want to view your old messages and files, you'll have to port them to a personal account before you lose access. Completing the whole process of transferring your Gmail messages to a new account doesn't take too long, but it will depend on just how many messages you have.

How Much Data Can You Store on Gmail?

Fifteen gigabytes of free storage may sound like a lot when you make a Gmail account, but it gets filled up quickly. For starters, the 15GB isn't just used for email: It also includes the files you've saved in your Google Drive and Google Photos. If you frequently send or receive messages that contain large files, such as videos, or if you find yourself uploading a lot of pictures and videos to your Google Photos, then it won't be long before you'll see the "Account storage is full" notification.

This means that you will no longer be able to send or receive emails on this account, so you'll want to do something ASAP. The quickest solution is to upgrade to a Google One account. Even if you choose the least expensive plan -- 100GB for $20 a year -- you'll still end up paying money to store old emails that you might not even need anymore.

The Solution: Transferring Your Gmail Messages

I decided to take matters into my own hands and transfer all of my emails to a new account. I created a second Gmail account, which I'll call my archive account. This account will be used solely for storing old messages, so I can keep them organized without cluttering my main inbox.

To start the transfer process, I backed up my emails by downloading them to my computer. This took about 2 hours, even with a large number of messages (about 75,000). Once I had the backup, I began the transfer process.

Transferring Your Gmail Messages: Step-by-Step

  1. Start by logging into your original Gmail account, clicking the "gear" icon in the top right and clicking See all settings.
  2. Select the Forwarding POP/IMAP tab and then select the option Enable POP for all mail (POP stands for Post Office Protocol).
  3. You'll have several options under When messages are accessed with POP. To automatically delete the emails from your original account after the transfer, select delete Gmail's copy.
  4. Login to your new archive account and click the gear icon at the top. Select See all settings.
  5. Select the Accounts and Import tab at the top, then select Add a mail account next to Check mail from other accounts.
  6. In the pop-up window, enter the name of your original Gmail account. Select Next.
  7. Select Import emails from my other account (POP3) and select Next again.
  8. Enter the password of your original Gmail account. You might also be required to create a Google app password (see note below).
  9. Check these 3 boxes: Always use a secure connection (SSL) when retrieving mail, Label incoming messages, Archive incoming messages (Skip the Inbox)

About Google App Passwords

I tested this Gmail message transfer process twice and both times the standard password for the Gmail accounts did not work. After a bit of research, I determined that I'd need to create a temporary "app password" to sync the accounts.

Google app passwords are 16-digit passcodes created for "less secure" apps or devices to access your Google account. They work exactly like your Google password. If your regular Google password doesn't work for syncing Gmail accounts, visit https://myaccount.google.com/apppasswords to create an app password.

Simply create a name for the password -- I used "Transfer Bulk Email" -- and then hit the Create button. You'll get a pop-up window with your new 16-digit passcode. Once you've created it, return to step 6 of the instructions above and use that new app password instead of your usual password.

What Happens After My Gmail Accounts Are Synced?

Once you've successfully linked your new Gmail archive account to your original account, your emails should begin to transfer automatically. The process could take several hours or days, depending on how many emails you have.

In my test account with about 75,000 messages, I found that it took Gmail about 2 full days to transfer all of them from the original account to the new archived mail account. After transferring, the account was only using 0.66GB, of which 0.06GB was from Gmail.

What Gmail Messages Won't Be Transferred?

I found that Gmail transferred all of my messages except for two categories -- Drafts and Spam. You'll need to decide what to do with your Drafts manually.

Spam messages are automatically deleted every 30 days so you can let Gmail handle that or go into the Spam folder yourself after transferring your mail and delete or forward those messages.

The Final Steps

Once all of your emails have been imported to your new account, enjoy the experience of inbox zero. You've given your original account a new lease on life.

There are two last steps: You'll want to stop the automatic transfer process so that you can continue using your original account and you'll want to delete that app password if you had to make one.

Final Tips

  1. Login to your new account, go into your Settings and select See all settings. Select the Accounts and Import tab, and then select delete for your original account (under Check mail from other accounts.)
  2. When prompted to Confirm delete mail account, select OK.
  3. If you had to create a Google app password and want to delete it now, go back to https://myaccount.google.com/apppasswords and click the trashcan icon next to the password you created.

One important final note: Google will delete accounts that have been inactive for more than two years. So make sure you don't completely ignore all your old emails after transferring them. If you don't plan to regularly use your archive account to send email, you can still keep the account active by signing in at least once every two years.