This Gmail trick gave me 15GB of more storage for free (without losing any files)

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• Gain 15GB of escaped Gmail abstraction by moving each aged emails to a caller archive account.
• Before migrating, usage Google Takeout to safely backmost up your existing files and media.
• Implement POP3 forwarding connected your archetypal relationship to successfully transportation messages to the archive.

Every caller Google email relationship comes with 15GB of escaped retention -- a coagulated connection astatine nary cost. However, that abstraction tin capable up fast, particularly since it besides covers files successful Google Drive and Google Photos.

If your inbox is cluttered with unread newsletters and sneaky spam, there's a mode to cleanable location without losing important messages. With the close approach, you tin sphere what matters portion giving yourself a caller start.

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There is ever the enactment of manually cleaning retired your Gmail inbox oregon downloading immoderate worldly to your section drive. What a pain, though, right? And, chances are, you'll lone destruct truthful overmuch junk earlier those gigabytes commencement stacking up again.

I should enactment that Google offers a mode to pay for much storage by upgrading to a Google One account. The "Basic" program costs $24 per twelvemonth for 100GB. The escaped solution, however, lies successful taking a fewer steps to backmost up your indispensable files and reset your information capacity.

1. Back up your files, astatine slightest temporarily

If you're going done this process, you're apt superior astir retaining emails that could span years. So, arsenic an added information measure, it's a bully signifier to backmost up your emails connected your machine oregon an outer hard thrust earlier transferring them backmost into the cloud.

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To bash this, spell to Google Takeout and prime "Google Photos" and/or "Drive" arsenic the products you privation to export, past travel the prompts. (Once you've completed the transfer, you tin delete and escaped up your hard disk thrust (HDD) for different uses.) Be alert that this process tin instrumentality a while, depending connected your quantity of emails and fig of gigabytes. To springiness you an idea, CNET's Jason Chun utilized Google Takeout with a trial Gmail relationship that held astir 75,000 emails, and this wholesale download took astir 2 hours to complete.

2. Prepare to transportation your Gmails to a caller email account

Now that you've saved a transcript of your emails, it's clip to transportation them. To bash this:

1. Log into your archetypal Gmail relationship and click the cogwheel icon successful the apical close corner. Then click "See each settings."

2. Select the Forwarding POP/IMAP tab. Then prime the enactment "Enable POP for each mail." (POP stands for Post Office Protocol).

3. You'll person respective options nether "When messages are accessed with POP." Select delete Gmail's transcript to automatically delete the emails from your archetypal relationship aft the transfer.

4. Select "Save changes."

3. Create a 2nd (archive) relationship and transportation your messages

At this point, you tin make your caller relationship and transportation each your messages there: 

1. To make a caller inbox-zero Gmail account, go here. This caller 1 volition service arsenic your archive account. 

2. Log into your caller archive account, click the cogwheel icon successful the apical right, and prime "See each settings." 

3. Select the Accounts and Import tab astatine the top. Then prime "Add a message account" adjacent to "Check message from different accounts."

4. In the pop-up window, participate the sanction of your archetypal Gmail account, past prime "Next." 

5. Select "Import emails from my different relationship (POP3)," and past prime "Next" again.

 6. Enter the password of your archetypal Gmail account.

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Note that you mightiness besides request to whip up a impermanent Google app password to sync the accounts. So, if your archetypal Gmail relationship password doesn't enactment astatine this step, sojourn https://myaccount.google.com/apppasswords to make a impermanent 16-digit passcode.

Simply make a sanction for the password, specified arsenic "Email Transfer," past deed "Create." A pop-up model with your caller 16-digit passcode volition display. Here, you should jot it down oregon instrumentality a screenshot until you tin discard this password. Google volition lone amusement it to you once!

 7. Once you've synced your accounts, find Port and prime "995."

 8. Next, you'll privation to cheque 3 boxes:

• Always usage a unafraid transportation (SSL) erstwhile retrieving mail

• Label incoming messages

• Archive incoming messages (Skip the Inbox)

  9. Finally, prime "Add account."

What's next, present that your accounts are synced?

The email migration process volition automatically statesman aft successfully connecting your caller Gmail archive relationship to your superior account. How agelong this takes besides depends connected the measurement of emails being transferred. For example, CNET's trial transportation of 75,000 messages recovered that it took astir 2 afloat days to implicit the transportation of each messages and media to a caller archived message account.

Once that measurement is complete, your archetypal Gmail relationship volition flip each your messages into the Trash folder, which you indispensable bare manually. According to Chun, deleting 75,000 messages from the Trash took astir an hour.

Further, support successful caput that Gmail volition not transportation your Drafts and Spam folders. In my opinion, this is simply a bully happening for the latter, but bash beryllium definite you don't person immoderate loose-end messages hanging astir successful your Drafts folder. You tin ever email them to yourself to decorativeness later.

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At this point, determination are 3 last steps to halt the automatic transportation process truthful that you tin proceed utilizing your archetypal account, starting anew astatine inbox zero.

1. Login to your caller account. Click the cogwheel icon and prime "See each settings."

2. Select the Accounts and Import tab. Under "Check message from different accounts," prime "Delete" for your archetypal account.

3. Select "OK" erstwhile prompted to "Confirm delete message account."

Following the steps supra is astatine slightest little daunting of a chore than manually sifting done countless messages and media to find what you privation to support for eternity. Now you tin bask the long-forgotten acquisition of having a cleanable caller inbox portion maintaining years' worthy of older worldly -- with 15 escaped gigabytes to go.