At a Glance
- A new Gmail account can instantly clear your inbox and free up 15GB of free storage.
- The transfer process moves 75,000 emails in about 2 days without losing important messages.
- Drafts and Spam aren’t moved, so you’ll need to clean those manually after the move.
- Why it matters: You can keep your email organized and avoid paying for Google One.
With the new year comes a fresh start, and that includes your inbox. If your Gmail is filling up, a quick transfer to a new account can bring you back to inbox zero in minutes. Here’s how to do it without losing anything.
Why Gmail Is Filling Up Fast
Google’s free plan offers 15GB of storage shared across Gmail, Drive, and Photos. As users send large attachments or upload photos, that space can fill quickly, triggering a “storage full” warning that blocks sending and receiving emails.
- Attachments and videos consume space.
- Photos uploaded to Google Photos add to the limit.
- Spam and drafts can accumulate over time.
The Easy Transfer Hack
The trick is simple: create a spare Gmail account, back up your current messages, then import them into the new account using POP3. The original account will then delete the emails, freeing space while preserving a copy in the archive.
- Backup: Use Google Takeout to download all emails; a 75,000-message archive took about 2 hours.
- Enable POP: In the original account’s settings, turn on POP for all mail and choose ‘delete Gmail’s copy’ after access.
- Create Archive Account: Sign up for a new Gmail address that will serve as your inbox-zero archive.
- Import Emails: In the new account’s settings, add the old account via POP3, use port 995, enable SSL, label and archive incoming messages, and supply an app password if required.
- Finish Transfer: Let Gmail move the emails; it may take 2 days for 75,000 messages. Empty the Trash afterward.
| Before Transfer | After Transfer |
|---|---|
| ~12 GB (80 % of 15 GB) | 0.66 GB (mostly Drive, 0.06 GB Gmail) |
After the Transfer
Once the move is complete, your original account will still have a copy of every message in Trash, which you should empty manually. Drafts remain in the old account, so copy or delete them as needed. Spam is automatically purged after 30 days, so no extra action is required.
Key Takeaways
- Create a second Gmail account to archive old emails and instantly free up space.
- Back up with Google Takeout before starting the transfer.
- The transfer can take up to 2 days for large inboxes; empty Trash afterward.
With your new archive in place, you can enjoy a clean, zero-inbox Gmail and keep your old messages safely stored. Just remember to log in at least once every two years to keep the archive account active.
