How to mark all emails as read in Gmail
Clear a red unread count of thousands in under a minute, on a computer or a phone.
On a computer
- Search for
is:unread. - Tick the box at the top left of the list.
- Click Select all conversations that match this search in the line above the list.
- Click the open-envelope icon, Mark as read.
For a single tab, click the tab first (Promotions, for example), then do steps 2 to 4.
Only the old ones
Keep this week's unread and clear the rest: search is:unread older_than:7d, then select all and mark as read.
On a phone
The Gmail app cannot select every unread email at once. Long-press one email and tap the others, or use a computer for large numbers.
Is marking as read enough?
It clears the number, not the pile. If the same newsletters fill your inbox every day, unsubscribe from them (Gmail shows an Unsubscribe link next to the sender's name on many of them) so the count does not climb straight back.
How to do this in Perfect Mail
Perfect Mail does not ask you to mark things read. It asks whether you are done with them, which is what clears the pile.
For a smaller batch, open Emails, tick the box on a row (or press X), and Shift-click to pick a run. Click Select all to take every email in the list, then Done (or press E) to archive them all at once.
Thousands of unread? Open Settings, choose Mass archive, and pick a date under Archive everything before. Perfect Mail tells you about how many emails that is. Click Review archive, confirm, and it runs in the background while you keep working. Everything it moves stays in Done (All mail in Gmail), so search still finds it.