Is your inbox starting to feel like an overstuffed junk drawer? You open it looking for one thing and a heap of other junk jumps out at you. Before you know it, you’re down a rabbit hole researching other uses for an apple corer. You’re not alone. The average inbox is overflowing with newsletters, promos, and random emails we never actually read. That digital clutter can weigh on us just as much as the piles on our kitchen bench. The good news? You can tidy it up in minutes—and feel so much lighter when you do.
Why Bother?
You might not think your inbox is a problem—but it’s affecting you anyway. Here’s how:
- Mentally: Every unopened email adds a tiny weight. Even if you’re ignoring it, your brain notices the number ticking up. That background stress chips away at your calm and your executive functioning capacity.
- Time sucking: The more clutter there is, the harder it is to find the email you do need. That’s minutes wasted searching, every single day. Those minutes add up.
- Lost money: Buried amongst the junk could be bills, receipts, or credits you forget to use. Missed deadlines or offers can literally cost you.
- Environmentally: Digital junk still uses resources. Emails are stored on servers that require electricity (lots of it). Every unnecessary email kept or sent adds to your digital footprint. And you thought you were going green when you put that “no junk mail” sticker on your post box, didn’t you?
- Decision fatigue: Constantly deciding whether to open, delete, or ignore builds up. Less clutter means fewer choices, and fewer choices means more brain space for the good stuff.
For me, inbox clutter feels the same as a messy kitchen bench. Every time I see it, there’s a little mental load: I should sort that out… later. Clearing it is like wiping down the bench—you suddenly have breathing space, mental clarity, and energy to focus on what matters. Your inbox should work for you, not nag at you. If this resonates, you might also enjoy my post on Declutter Your Paperwork—because the same principles apply from the kitchen table to your digital inbox.
So, here they are…
3 easy steps to clearing that inbox:
Step 1: Search “unsubscribe”
In your inbox search bar, type “unsubscribe.” Most promotional and marketing emails include this word, so this quick search will round up a lot of your inbox clutter in one hit.
Step 2: Pick & Unsubscribe
Open one you never read. Scroll to the bottom and click unsubscribe.
⚠️ Safety tip: If the email looks suspicious or just doesn’t feel right, don’t click any links. Instead, delete it or report it as spam.
Step 3: Delete the Backlog
Search for that sender’s name or email address. Select all of their old emails, then hit delete. That’s hundreds (or thousands!) of emails gone in seconds. You’ll be amazed at how quickly the inbox number drops. It’s a bit like finally taking that giant bag of recycling out—you wonder why you put it off so long, and suddenly the whole space feels lighter.
⚠️ Warning: As tempting as it is to select all and delete, I recommend having a quick scroll through the selected emails before hitting delete – you never know when something you wanted to keep just happened to get caught in your net.
But What If There’s No Unsubscribe?
Not all emails are newsletters. Some are one-offs, or come from people who really shouldn’t be on your inbox guest list anymore. In those cases, simply delete them and, if they keep showing up, use your email provider’s Block or Report Spam function. That way, they can’t sneak back in.
Bonus Tips
- Check your Junk folder every so often. Safely delete anything dodgy, or rescue the rare useful email that got trapped in there. Just like the physical junk mail in your letterbox: most of it is the same stuff showing up again and again, with the occasional thing worth a second glance.
- Do it in bursts. Spend 5–10 minutes at a time. Over a week or two, your inbox will feel lighter and easier to manage.
Decluttering your inbox doesn’t have to be complicated. Start small, repeat as needed, and you’ll soon notice how much calmer it feels to open your email. One less pile of clutter weighing on your mind! Just like the dishes, though, it’s never really ‘done’—there’ll always be more emails arriving by the end of the day. The trick is to keep on top of it so it doesn’t get overwhelming, and your future self will thank you every time you open your inbox.
If you’d like some extra support to keep the momentum going, my Side-by-Side Sessions are a great way to tackle digital and physical clutter together. Or, for a quick win, check out the Simplicity Toolkit—it’s packed with resources to help you build clutter-clearing habits that stick.
👉 Want more decluttering strategies that go beyond your inbox? Check out my coaching and resources to help you simplify every corner of your life.