Batch delete thousands of Gmail drafts in seconds

Mail in macOS has long suffered from a bug that can generate thousands of near-duplicate Gmail drafts (the simplest workaround is switching draft storage from server to local).

Selecting more than 50 drafts in the Gmail web interface via "Select all x messages in Drafts" disables the "Discard drafts" option, making large-scale deletion tedious.

A faster alternative is using Google Apps Script. While script executions are limited to 6 minutes, the following API-based method can delete thousands of drafts in seconds (Gmail's API delete methods bypass Trash, so deletions are immediate and irreversible):

Go to https://script.google.com → New project
Paste and save the following script:
function deleteAllDrafts_FinalPaginated() { try { let allMessageIds = []; let pageToken; let pageCount = 0; // 1. Loop through all pages of drafts to get every ID. do { const response = Gmail.Users.Drafts.list('me', { maxResults: 500, // Fetch up to 500 per page for speed pageToken: pageToken }); if (response.drafts && response.drafts.length > 0) { const messageIdsOnPage = response.drafts.map(draft => draft.message.id); allMessageIds = allMessageIds.concat(messageIdsOnPage); pageCount++; } // Get the token for the next page. If there isn't one, the loop will end. pageToken = response.nextPageToken; } while (pageToken); const totalDrafts = allMessageIds.length; if (totalDrafts === 0) { Logger.log("No drafts to delete."); return; } Logger.log("Found " + totalDrafts + " drafts across " + pageCount + " page(s). Processing in batches..."); // 2. Process the complete list of IDs in chunks. const batchSize = 1000; // Max allowed by the users.messages.batchDelete endpoint for (let i = 0; i < totalDrafts; i += batchSize) { const chunk = allMessageIds.slice(i, i + batchSize); const request = { ids: chunk }; Gmail.Users.Messages.batchDelete(request, 'me'); Logger.log("Deleted batch: " + (i + 1) + " through " + Math.min(i + batchSize, totalDrafts)); } Logger.log("Successfully initiated deletion of all " + totalDrafts + " drafts."); } catch (e) { Logger.log("Error deleting drafts: " + e.name + " - " + e.message); } }
In the left-hand menu, click + next to Services
Select Gmail API → Add
Click Run

During testing, used this script to quickly generate 105 drafts:

function createTestDrafts() {
  for (var i = 1; i <= 105; i++) {
    var subject = "Test Draft " + i;
    var body = "This is test draft number " + i + ".\nGenerated for batch deletion testing.";
    var recipient = Session.getActiveUser().getEmail();
    
    GmailApp.createDraft(recipient, subject, body);
  }
    
  Logger.log("105 test drafts created.");
}

Updates

Batch delete messages with a specific label and/or within a specific date range

/**
 * Deletes emails in batches based on a specified date range and label.
 *
 * IMPORTANT: This action is permanent and cannot be undone.
 * Double-check the configuration variables before running.
 */
function deleteMessagesByDateAndLabel() {
  // --- CONFIGURATION ---
  // Set your desired date range and label here.
  // Use YYYY/MM/DD format for dates.
  // Note: Gmail's 'before:' operator is exclusive (it excludes the specified date),
  // so to include all of 2000, set endDate to '2001/01/01', not '2000/12/31'.
  const startDate = '2000/01/01';
  const endDate = '2001/01/01';

  // Specify the label. Examples: 'inbox', 'sent', 'spam', 'promotions'.
  // To search in "All Mail" (excluding Spam and Trash), set this to an empty string: ''
  const labelName = 'inbox';
  // --- END CONFIGURATION ---

  try {
    // 1. Build the Gmail search query.
    let queryParts = [];
    if (startDate) queryParts.push('after:' + startDate);
    if (endDate) queryParts.push('before:' + endDate);
    if (labelName) queryParts.push('label:' + labelName);
    const query = queryParts.join(' ');

    if (query.trim() === '') {
      Logger.log("Error: No search criteria specified. Please set a date range or label.");
      return;
    }

    Logger.log("Using search query: '" + query + "'");

    let allMessageIds = [];
    let pageToken;
    let pageCount = 0;

    // 2. Loop through all pages of search results to get every message ID.
    do {
      const response = Gmail.Users.Messages.list('me', {
        q: query,
        maxResults: 500, // Fetch up to 500 per page for speed
        pageToken: pageToken
      });

      if (response.messages && response.messages.length > 0) {
        const messageIdsOnPage = response.messages.map(message => message.id);
        allMessageIds = allMessageIds.concat(messageIdsOnPage);
        pageCount++;
      }

      // Get the token for the next page. If there isn't one, the loop will end.
      pageToken = response.nextPageToken;
    } while (pageToken);

    const totalMessages = allMessageIds.length;

    if (totalMessages === 0) {
      Logger.log("No messages found matching the criteria.");
      return;
    }

    Logger.log("Found " + totalMessages + " messages across " + pageCount + " page(s). Processing in batches...");

    // 3. Process the complete list of IDs in chunks for batch deletion.
    const batchSize = 1000; // Max allowed by the users.messages.batchDelete endpoint
    for (let i = 0; i < totalMessages; i += batchSize) {
      const chunk = allMessageIds.slice(i, i + batchSize);
      const request = { ids: chunk };
      Gmail.Users.Messages.batchDelete(request, 'me');
      Logger.log("Initiated deletion for batch: " + (i + 1) + " through " + Math.min(i + batchSize, totalMessages));
    }

    Logger.log("Successfully initiated deletion of all " + totalMessages + " messages.");

  } catch (e) {
    Logger.log("Error deleting messages: " + e.name + " - " + e.message);
  }
}

Batch delete uncategorized archived emails

Since archiving in Gmail is just an action (removing the Inbox label), not a location, and the default swipe/discard behavior on iOS, iPadOS, and Android archives rather than deletes, unlabeled archived messages end up silently piling up in All Mail with no easy way to bulk-delete them.

This script permanently deletes all Gmail messages with no system labels (Inbox, Sent, Drafts, Spam, Trash, Chats) and no user labels, effectively purging everything that only exists in All Mail:

function deleteArchivedUnlabeledMessages() {
  // ================================================================
  // MODE TOGGLE
  // ----------------------------------------------------------------
  // Set to `true`  → DRY RUN (default): only logs what WOULD happen.
  // Set to `false` → LIVE RUN: permanently deletes messages.
  //
  // ⚠️  LIVE RUN IS IRREVERSIBLE - messages bypass Trash entirely.
  //     Run a dry run first to confirm the count looks right.
  // ================================================================
  var DRY_RUN = true;

  var query = 'has:nouserlabels -in:inbox -in:sent -in:drafts -in:spam -in:trash -in:chats';
  var pageToken;
  var messageIds = [];

  // -------------------------------------------------------
  // Step 1: Collect all matching message IDs, page by page
  // -------------------------------------------------------
  do {
    var response = Gmail.Users.Messages.list('me', {
      q: query,
      maxResults: 500,
      pageToken: pageToken
    });

    if (response.messages && response.messages.length > 0) {
      response.messages.forEach(function (msg) {
        messageIds.push(msg.id);
      });
    }

    pageToken = response.nextPageToken;
    Logger.log('Collected ' + messageIds.length + ' message IDs so far...');
  } while (pageToken);

  Logger.log('Total unlabeled archived messages found: ' + messageIds.length);

  if (messageIds.length === 0) {
    Logger.log('Nothing to delete. Exiting.');
    return;
  }

  // -------------------------------------------------------
  // Step 2: Process in chunks of 1000 (API limit)
  // ⚠️ LIVE deletion is PERMANENT - messages bypass Trash
  // -------------------------------------------------------
  var batchSize = 1000;
  for (var i = 0; i < messageIds.length; i += batchSize) {
    var batch = messageIds.slice(i, i + batchSize);
    var batchNum = Math.floor(i / batchSize) + 1;

    if (DRY_RUN) {
      Logger.log('DRY RUN - would delete batch ' + batchNum +
                 ' (' + batch.length + ' messages)');
    } else {
      Gmail.Users.Messages.batchDelete({ ids: batch }, 'me');
      Logger.log('DELETED batch ' + batchNum +
                 ' (' + batch.length + ' messages)');
    }
  }

  if (DRY_RUN) {
    Logger.log('DRY RUN complete. ' + messageIds.length + ' messages would be deleted.');
  } else {
    Logger.log('Done! Permanently deleted ' + messageIds.length + ' messages.');
  }
}

To target a specific time range, modify the query variable in the archive cleanup script (see Google's search operators documentation for additional filtering options like larger:, from:, filename:, etc.):

Delete only archived messages older than 2 years:
var query = 'has:nouserlabels -in:inbox -in:sent -in:drafts -in:spam -in:trash -in:chats older_than:2y';
Delete archived messages in a specific date range (e.g., 2018–2022):
var query = 'has:nouserlabels -in:inbox -in:sent -in:drafts -in:spam -in:trash -in:chats after:2018/01/01 before:2023/01/01';

❧ 2025-08-06