How to Mark All Unread Emails as Read in Gmail Instantly

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Many Gmail users have a problem with the number of unread emails they have. This situation sometimes making it difficult to find other important emails.

Instead of opening the unread emails one by one, you can take advantage of one Gmail feature that lets you mark all unread emails as read in just a few clicks — no third-party plugin required. Everything you need to complete this task is already available on the Gmail desktop.

How to mark all unread emails as read

In this guide, you will learn how to bulk read all unread emails in Gmail easily. This such ability is only available on the Gmail desktop.

1. Go to Gmail and head to the search bar.

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2. Type is:unread and press Enter. This search operator will show you the entire unread emails.

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3. Select all emails by clicking the Select all checkbox.

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4. Once selected, click on the Select all conversations that match this search. This option will let you select the entire emails without having to navigate each page.

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5. Click on the Mark as read icon, represented with the opened envelope.

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6. Click OK to confirm this action.

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7. Finally, the list of unread emails should be empty.

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You have several seconds of a window to Undo this action. All these emails are still available in your Gmail account. You can access that anytime.

If you have any difficulties regarding this guide, don’t be hesitate to ask via the comment section below. Any feedback would be appreciated!

FAQs

How do I mark emails as read automatically in Gmail?

You can create a filter in Gmail to mark all incoming emails as read. Go to Settings > Filters and blocked addresses > Create filter. In the box next to “Includes the words”, type in your criteria, then select “Mark as read” in the next step.

How do I handle thousands of unread emails in Gmail?

If you’re overwhelmed by a large number of unread emails, consider declaring “email bankruptcy”. This involves selecting all emails in your inbox and archiving them, effectively starting fresh. You can do this by clicking the “Select All” checkbox in your inbox, then clicking “Archive”.

How do you mark a Gmail message as urgent?

Gmail doesn’t have a built-in feature to mark an email as urgent. However, you can indicate urgency by adding a descriptor like [URGENT] at the beginning of your subject line.

How do I mark all emails as read in Gmail on iPhone?

Unfortunately, the Gmail app for iOS doesn’t support marking all emails as read. However, you can use a third-party tool like Clean Email to mark all your emails as read directly from your iPhone.