Google emailed me last week.
"You've used 14.2GB of 15GB."
Translation: pay us or lose access.
I didn't pay. I opened Gmail and cleared 9GB in one afternoon.
Here's exactly what I did.
Step 1: See where the damage is
Google breaks down what's eating your space — Gmail, Drive, Photos. Mine was 73% Gmail. Emails I hadn't touched in years.
Step 2: Kill the big files first
Search: larger:10MB
This finds every email with massive attachments. Old PDFs. Videos someone sent in 2021. Pitch decks from jobs you forgot about.
I found 47 emails. Deleted them. 4.2GB gone in two minutes.
Step 3: Nuke ancient history
Search: older_than:2y
If you haven't needed it in two years, you won't need it tomorrow.
6,000 emails. Selected all. Deleted. Felt nothing.
Step 4: Clear the attachment graveyard
Search: has:attachment older_than:1y
Attachments are the real killers. This surfaces every old file clogging your inbox.
Step 5: Destroy the newsletters you never read
Search: unsubscribe older_than:6m
Every promo you ignored. Every "weekly update" you stopped caring about.
Mass select. Delete. Move on.
Step 6: Wipe social and promo noise
Search: category:social older_than:3m
Then: category:promotions older_than:1m
LinkedIn notifications from last year. Sales that ended months ago. Why are these still here?
Step 7: Clean your Sent folder
Search: in:sent has:attachment larger:5MB
That 15MB file you sent two years ago? Still counting against YOUR storage.
Delete the sent copy. You don't need it.
Step 8: Empty the trash
This is the step people forget.
Deleted emails sit in Trash for 30 days. Still eating space. Go to Trash. Click "Empty trash now."
Instant recovery.
My results:
Large attachments — 4.2GB freed
Old emails — 2.1GB freed
Attachment graveyard — 1.8GB freed
Newsletters and promos — 0.9GB freed
Total: 9GB. One afternoon. $0 to Google.
They're betting you won't do this.
That you'll see the "storage full" warning and just pay. $30/year feels easier than cleaning up.
But it takes 20 minutes. Maybe 30 if you're slow.
Do it today.
— Matas, DailyChatGPT Founder
🚨Reply YES to this email, and I'll send you 5 powerful ChatGPT prompting techniques to unlock the best results from ChatGPT instantly! (limited copys will be sent)