How to find large emails taking up storage space

Learn how to find large emails in Gmail, Apple Mail and Outlook on iPhone, Android and computer to identify which are taking up storage space.

Science/Technology Nov 5, 2026 0 5 Add to Reading List

CyberGuy Daily Tech Tip

Ever get a warning that your email storage is almost full? You might assume it’s because you have thousands of messages sitting in your inbox. But sometimes, a handful of old emails containing photos, videos or large documents can take up more space than you realize.

Think about all those vacation pictures, family videos, presentations and attachments people have emailed you over the years. Some of those messages could still be sitting in your account long after you’ve forgotten about them.

The good news? You don’t have to scroll through thousands of messages to start cleaning things up. You can find large emails using Gmail’s built-in search tools, or narrow down messages with attachments in Apple Mail and Outlook. Some desktop email apps even let you sort messages by size.

Here’s how to do it on iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel and your computer.

How to find emails with attachments in Apple Mail on iPhone

If you use the built-in Mail app on your iPhone, there’s a handy filter that helps you find messages containing attachments.

It won’t automatically sort emails by size, but it can help you identify older messages with photos, videos or documents that may be taking up storage.

Here’s how to use it.

Open the Mail app on your iPhone.
Go to your Inbox or the mailbox you want to review.
Tap the Filter button near the bottom left of the screen.
Tap Filtered by to see the available filtering options.
Turn off any other selected filters you don’t want to apply, such as Unread.
Turn on Only Mail with Attachments.
Return to your mailbox to review the filtered messages.
Open any messages you want to examine before deciding whether to delete them.
When you’re finished, tap the Filter button again to return to your normal mailbox view.

You’ll now have a more manageable list of emails containing attachments.

Bonus tip: If you have multiple email accounts in Apple Mail, you can create a mailbox that shows attachments across those accounts. Go to Mailboxes, tap Edit and select Attachments. This adds an Attachments mailbox to your mailbox list.

Important: Apple Mail doesn’t offer Gmail’s exact size-based search on iPhone. This method finds messages with attachments, not necessarily the largest emails in your account. Also, remember that deleting messages only affects the storage associated with the email account you’re cleaning up

How to find large emails in Gmail on iPhone

If you use Gmail on your iPhone, there’s an even more precise way to find messages that may be using a lot of storage.

Gmail supports special search commands that let you look for emails above a certain size.

Here’s how.

Open the Gmail app on your iPhone.
Tap the Search in mail bar at the top.
Type has larger:10M.
Tap Search on your keyboard.
Review the messages Gmail finds.
Open any message you want to check before deleting it.

This search finds messages larger than 10 MB that contain attachments. Gmail measures the size of the entire message, including its attachments.

Bonus tip: You can change 10M to 5M or 20M to search for different message sizes.

For example, larger:20M finds messages over 20 MB, whether or not they contain attachments.

How to find large emails in Gmail on Samsung Galaxy

Samsung Galaxy users can use the same Gmail search command.

Open the Gmail app.
Tap Search in mail at the top.
Enter has larger:10M.
Tap Search on your keyboard.
Look through the results for old messages with large attachments.
Open messages to review their contents before deciding what to delete.

Gmail will show messages that match your search.

Quick tip: Start with older emails containing photos, videos or large documents. These can be good candidates for cleanup if you no longer need them.

How to find large emails in Gmail on Google Pixel

Google Pixel phones also support Gmail’s search operators.

Open Gmail on your Google Pixel.
Tap Search in mail.
Type has larger:10M.
Tap Search on your keyboard.
Review the results.
Open messages to check whether the attachments are still important.
Delete messages you’re certain you no longer need.

Bonus tip: If you want to find even larger messages, try larger:20M. You can also search for smaller messages using larger:5M.

How to find emails with attachments in Outlook

If you use Microsoft Outlook, you can also narrow down messages containing attachments.

The exact steps depend on whether you’re using the Outlook mobile app or Outlook on a computer.

On iPhone, Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel

Microsoft Outlook has a built-in filter for finding messages with attachments.

Open the Outlook app.
Go to your Inbox or the mailbox you want to review.
Tap the Filters icon near the top right of the message list.
Select Attachments.
Review the messages that appear.
Open any emails you want to examine before deciding what to delete.
When you’re finished, tap the X next to the filter or tap the Filters icon again to remove it.

This narrows your inbox to messages containing attachments.

Quick tip: You can also tap Search in Outlook, enter something you remember about a message and use the Attachments filter in the search results. This can help you find an older file without scrolling through your entire inbox.

On new Outlook for Windows, Outlook.com or Outlook on the web

Newer Outlook versions offer tools for finding messages with attachments and sorting emails by size.

Open Outlook on your computer.
Go to your Inbox or the folder you want to review.
Select Filter near the top of the message list.
Choose Has files to narrow the list to messages with attachments.
To look for larger messages, open Filter again.
Choose Sort by, then Size.
If the smallest messages appear first, reverse the sort order so the largest messages appear at the top.
Open messages to review their attachments before deleting anything.

This can help you identify messages taking up the most space without having to open every email.

Bonus tip: You can also use Outlook’s Search bar and enter hasattachment to find emails containing attachments in supported versions.

On Outlook for Mac

If you use Outlook on a Mac, you can search for attachments and sort messages by size.

Open Outlook on your Mac.
Select the mailbox you want to review.
Click the Search bar at the top.
Enter hasattachment.
Press Return to run the search.
Review the messages containing attachments.
Use Outlook’s Sort options and select Size to help identify larger messages.
Open any emails you want to examine before deleting them.

Quick tip: Outlook for Mac also offers search filters. Click the Filters icon at the end of the search bar to narrow your results using available criteria, including attachments.

On classic Outlook for Windows

If you’re using classic Outlook rather than the newer version, there’s a more direct way to search for large emails.

Open Outlook.
Click the Search box.
Enter messagesize:>5 mb.
Press Enter.
Review messages larger than 5 MB.
Open and examine messages before deleting them.

You can change 5 mb to another size, depending on how much storage you want to reclaim.

Important: This size-based search command is supported in classic Outlook but isn’t supported in new Outlook for Windows. If you’re using the newer version, use its sorting and filtering tools instead.

How to find large emails in Gmail on a computer

If you prefer cleaning up your inbox on a laptop or desktop, Gmail’s search trick works there, too.

Open Gmail in your browser.
Sign in to your account if needed.
Click the Search in mail bar.
Enter has larger:10M.
Press Enter.
Review the results.
Open any messages you want to check before deleting them.

You can also adjust the size in your search.

For example:

larger:5M finds messages over 5 MB.
larger:10M finds messages over 10 MB.
larger:20M finds messages over 20 MB.
has larger:10M finds messages over 10 MB that contain attachments.

Bonus tip: Gmail also has a built-in search options menu. Click the Show search options icon beside the search bar, then use the Size field to find messages above a certain size without typing a search command.

If you’re trying to free up Gmail storage, searching for larger messages first can help you focus on the emails most likely to make a difference.

How to find emails with attachments in Apple Mail on Mac

Mac users can also locate messages containing attachments using Apple’s built-in Mail app.

Unlike Apple Mail on iPhone, the Mac version also lets you sort messages by size.

Here’s how to do it.

Open Mail on your Mac.
Select the mailbox you want to review.
Click the Search field in the toolbar.
Type attachment.
Select Message with attachments from the search suggestions.
Review the emails containing attachments.
To sort messages by size, click View in the menu bar.
Select Sort By, then Size.
Choose the sort order that places the largest messages first.
Open any emails you want to examine before deleting them.

This can make it easier to identify messages with large photos, videos or documents.

Quick tip: If you don’t see the messages you’re looking for, choose Search all mailboxes to expand your search. And if you’re using Gmail through Apple Mail, you can still visit Gmail’s website and use its more precise size-based search.

What happens after you delete large emails?

Deleting an email doesn’t always free up storage immediately.

For example, in Gmail, deleted messages move to Trash, where they generally remain for 30 days unless you permanently delete them sooner.

If you need to reclaim storage more quickly, you can empty Trash after making sure there’s nothing you need to recover.

Keep in mind that permanently deleted emails may not be recoverable.

Google also says that after deleting large amounts of content, your storage total can take 48 to 72 hours to update accurately.

Gmail storage is shared with Google Drive and Google Photos for many Google accounts. If you’re running out of Google storage, deleting emails may only solve part of the problem.

For Outlook users, messages in Deleted Items can also continue taking up mailbox storage until they’re permanently removed.

For Apple Mail users, storage limits and deletion policies depend on the email provider. If you use iCloud Mail, deleting unnecessary emails can help free up iCloud storage. If you use Gmail or Outlook through Apple Mail, the storage belongs to those email services.

Important: Deleting emails from an app is different from freeing up storage on your phone or computer. These steps primarily help reduce the storage used by your email account, although removing locally downloaded mail may also affect device storage.

Important things to know before deleting emails

Before you start cleaning out your inbox, keep a few things in mind.

Save important attachments first: Make sure you have copies of receipts, tax records, family photos or other documents you may need later.
Don’t assume every attachment is large: A message with a small PDF may take up less space than an email containing several high-resolution photos.
Remember that message size includes more than attachments: Gmail’s size searches look at the total email message, including the attachment and other message content.
Archiving usually doesn’t free up storage: Moving an email to an archive folder within the same online account generally keeps it in your storage.
Check Trash and Deleted Items: Deleted emails may continue using storage until they’re permanently removed.
Review messages carefully: Don’t delete important financial, medical or legal documents just to save a little space.
Check your actual storage usage: If you’re using Gmail, Google Drive or Google Photos may be responsible for much of your storage usage.
Remember to check sent emails: Messages you’ve sent with large attachments can also use storage, so don’t focus only on your Inbox.