Deleting sent emails

[sensen]

I have a Mac OSX El Capitan, Version 10.11.4

I happened to look at my "sent" mails. And realized I have all my emails that go back to when I purchased this computer in 2011.... Over 6000..... Is there a quick way to delete the majority of them. All I know how to do is click on that window of messages (50) check the select all, then trash..... It would take me forever if I have to do it, 50 at a time. Is there an easy way to delete all but the most recent ones? Second (help) question. When I open my design folder to look for patterns, I double click on each "item" and it appears on the screen. As I continue to open patterns, they over lap each other. When I find the pattern I'm looking for, to close the rest of the patterns, I have to click on each red close button. Is there a simple way to close them all at the same time?

I am not computer savvy, so any help is appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[chscag]

Not much info to go on....

Try accessing your email provider's web site and see if you can delete the sent email messages from there. If your account is setup as IMAP, once the messages have been deleted from there, they will also be deleted from your Mac. However, if your account is POP, then you will likely have to do the 50 at a time from your Mac. And our advice is before you start deleting anything, make a backup of all your data. We have no idea what you're referring to "looking for patterns". ??

 

[sensen]

I'll give that a try... thanks so much.

I'm an artist, and have a design/pattern file that I use for reference. When I'm looking for a certain pattern, I go through the file, and open each line to see what that pattern is. when I'm finished, all those pictures on screen that overlap, have to be closed. I'm hoping there is some way to close the all at once, rather than one at a time.

 

[yogi]

For the first question:

It sounds like you are using Gmail? Please tell us what mail client you are using.

For the second question:

- You could use Quicklook instead of opening the files. Click once on a file and hit the spacebar to look into a file and hit space again to dismiss.
- Alternatively, use Cmd+W to close windows and repeat rapidly
- Or, just quit the app you are using to look at the images (probably Preview???) using Cmd+Q

 

[sensen]

For the first question:

It sounds like you are using Gmail? Please tell us what mail client you are using. I don't know what a mail client is? Sorry I am use Gmail for my emails though.

For the second question:

- You could use Quicklook instead of opening the files. Don't know where or how to find Quicklook. Didn't know I had it?



Click once on a file and hit the spacebar to look into a file and hit space again to dismiss.
- Alternatively, use Cmd+W to close windows and repeat rapidly
- Or, just quit the app you are using to look at the images (probably Preview???) using Cmd+Q

I'll sure give them a try, thanks so much.
***************

 

[yogi]

Quicklook is built into OS X, it's not an application, but rather a feature to quickly see the contents of a file: https://support.apple.com/kb/PH18813?locale=en_US

As for Gmail, you obviously are using Gmail's website to access your mail. A mail client would be a program on your computer (such as Apple Mail, or Microsoft Outlook) that fetches your mail for you.

Before you go off deleting any mails, be aware that this has nothing to do with your computer. The mails aren't on your computer, they are on Gmail's servers in the cloud. This means that deleting old e-mail won't have any benefit in terms of performance or space of your computer. Gmail can handle it. If you want to just clean up, however, read on.


On Gmail's site, you can search at the top. Enter the following text there, replacing the date with your "cutoff" date before which you want to delete all mail:

sent before:2016/01/01

Hit enter, and see the results.
Now click the "select all" button that looks like a checkbox at the top left, right below the search box.
All mails will be selected and shown in yellow. At the top of the list, there is a link saying "Select all conversations that match this search". Click that.
Now press the delete key.

 

[sensen]

Before you go off deleting any mails, be aware that this has nothing to do with your computer. The mails aren't on your computer, they are on Gmail's servers in the cloud. This means that deleting old e-mail won't have any benefit in terms of performance or space of your computer. Gmail can handle it. If you want to just clean up, however, read on.

Well, that's a relief. I thought those sent mails were on my hard drive taking up space. If their in the cloud, I'll just leave them there.

Thank you very much