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/* | |
This script, when used with Google Apps Scripts, will delete 400 emails and | |
can be triggered to run every few minutes without user interaction enabling you | |
to bulk delete email in Gmail without getting the #793 error from Gmail. | |
Google returns a maximum of 500 email threads in a single API call. | |
This script fetches 400 threads in case 500 threads is causing timeouts | |
Configure the search query in the code below to match the type of emails | |
you want to delete | |
See - https://developers.google.com/apps-script/reference/gmail/gmail-app#search(String) | |
and https://support.google.com/mail/answer/7190 | |
Browse to https://script.google.com/ | |
Start a script and paste in the code below. | |
After you paste it in, save it. | |
Now you need to set the authorized scopes for the script ( https://developers.google.com/apps-script/concepts/scopes ) | |
On the left side of the screen, hover over the gear symbol and then click on Project Settings. | |
Enable 'Show "appsscript.json" manifest file in editor' | |
On the left side of the screen, click on the < > to return to the code editor | |
You should see a new file appear, appscript.json. Click on it. | |
Edit the file to add an oauthScopes entry for mail.google.com. It should look something like this. | |
{ | |
"oauthScopes": [ | |
"https://mail.google.com/", | |
"https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.readonly", | |
"https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.modify" | |
], | |
"timeZone": "America/New_York", | |
"dependencies": { | |
"enabledAdvancedServices": [ | |
{ | |
"userSymbol": "Gmail", | |
"version": "v1", | |
"serviceId": "gmail" | |
} | |
] | |
}, | |
"exceptionLogging": "STACKDRIVER", | |
"runtimeVersion": "V8" | |
} | |
In the drop down at the top select the function you want | |
to run. For example, you could run the batchDeleteEmail function. | |
This gist contains a few different functions to give examples of how to do other actions | |
besides deleting emails. For example if you wanted to mark all mail with the "work" label as read | |
you could run the markReadLabelWork function | |
Next click the little clock looking button. | |
This is for your triggers. You can set up how frequently you want the script | |
to run (I did mine for every minute but others are seeing execution take longer than | |
a minute in which case you may want to run every 5 or 15 minutes). | |
This writeup from @timur-tabi goes into more detail : https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PLfAnNus-B87gHS1pkbmzFTkWckAPNcqmvO7hFo_gBc/edit | |
Source : # https://productforums.google.com/d/msg/gmail/YeQVDuPIQzA/kpZPDDj8TXkJ | |
This gist includes additions by @kulemantu found in their fork : https://gist.github.com/kulemantu/84682cfebe72eb925cfe/revisions | |
*/ | |
function batchDeleteEmail() { | |
processEmail('label:inbox from:user@example.com', 'moveThreadsToTrash'); | |
} | |
function markReadLabelWork() { | |
processEmail('label:work', 'markThreadsRead'); | |
} | |
function markReadFromInfoExample() { | |
processEmail('from:user@example.com', 'markThreadsRead'); | |
} | |
function processEmail(search, batchAction) { | |
var batchSize = 100; // Process up to 100 threads at once | |
var searchSize = 400; // Limit search result to a max of 400 threads. Use this if you encounter the "Exceeded maximum execution time" error | |
var threads = GmailApp.search(search, 0, searchSize); | |
for (j = 0; j < threads.length; j += batchSize) { | |
GmailApp[batchAction](threads.slice(j, j + batchSize)); | |
} | |
} |
Try this version. It limits to 400 threads:
function batchDeleteEmail() { // moveThreadsToTrash() only allows up to 100 threads at once var batchSize = 100 // returns no more than 500 results, but that takes longer than // six minutes, so return less. We don't want timeouts. var threads = GmailApp.search('label:inbox from:user@example.com', 0, 400); for (j = 0; j < threads.length; j += batchSize) { GmailApp.moveThreadsToTrash(threads.slice(j, j + batchSize)); } }
I suggest running this script not more often than once per hour.
That worked perfect. Now I just setup a trigger to run hourly. Does it start at the beginning of the hour? There is nothing under
Last run
yet
I changed it to run every 15 mins and I do see it running. I will change it back to run it every hour. Thanks!
@timur-tabi Thank you, I've added your suggestion to the gist above and linked to your Google Doc.
So the script has been working fine for most times (trigger is setup for one per hr) with searchSize = 400. However I still get the Exceeded maximum execution time
once in a while and sometimes says Exception: Gmail operation not allowed
. Out of 24 a day (one/hr) I get 3 failed with gmail operation not allowed and 3 timedout with execeeded max execution time. 75% success rate (yikes). Google GMAIL api is pretty unstable seems like.
Thank you. This script is very helpful to me. I release a new version to everyone. By the way, I added Mandarin in the comments. Hope it helps others.
function batchDeleteEmail() {
var batchSize = 100 // Process up to 100 threads at once
// 如果需要時間可以加上 [older_than:00m、00d、00h],[category:] 可換成 [label:]
// If you need to add time conditions, you can use d(day) and h(hours) instead.
// [category:] can be replace [label:].
var threads = GmailApp.search('category:forums');
console.log('batch size is: ' + threads.length);
for (j = 0; j < threads.length; j+=batchSize) {
console.log('removing batch: ' + j);
GmailApp.moveThreadsToTrash(threads.slice(j, j+batchSize));
}
}
Thank you so much! For anyone else wanting to delete patches, this is my
function batchDeleteEmail() {
var batchSize = 100 // Process up to 100 threads at once
var searchSize = 400 // Limit search result to a max of 400 threads. Use this if you encounter the "Exceeded maximum execution time" error
var threads = GmailApp.search('subject: PATCH', 0, searchSize);
for (j = 0; j < threads.length; j+=batchSize) {
GmailApp.moveThreadsToTrash(threads.slice(j, j+batchSize));
}
}
How to add multiple email addresses to the list?
I have an issue and I can't debug it. Is it me or the docs are a little bit stingy? Anyways, I cannot run the script as it says
Exception: Gmail Operation not allowed
On the line using GmailApp.search
. Oddly enough, I left it running for something like an hour and it was working but then it stopped working. It sounds like a limit hit? but I am unsure as I am getting a Gmail operation not allowed
and not something like limit error
or something else. Any possible ideas?
Thank you!
How to add multiple email addresses to the list?
@birajblg1987 You can customize the GMail search terms on line 27 in any way you wish, including adding additional email addresses.
@Hectorhammett Indeed, @asifiqbal also mentions above encountering that limit.
This script changed my life
My script appears to be running but I don't see the overall count going down. Is there any code I can add which would allow me to log whether the threads were successfully removed?
Thank you for an amazing script. However, in my case, I have around 200k messages that I need to delete. Here is how I altered the code to keep it running continuously:
function processEmail(search, batchAction) {
var batchSize = 100; // Process up to 100 threads at once
var searchSize = 500; // Limit search result to a max of 500 threads. (google doesn't allow more)
do {
var threads = GmailApp.search(search, 0, searchSize);
console.log('processing ' + threads.length + ' threads');
for (j = 0; j < threads.length; j += batchSize) {
GmailApp[batchAction](threads.slice(j, j + batchSize));
}
} while (threads.length>0) // keep script running until there are no threads left
}
For the people like me that have thousands of emails to delete and don't have a fancy business account, if you use @ethaniel script you will get Exceeded maximum execution time after 6 minutes, a way to get over it is setting a trigger 🕐 to execute every 5 minutes calling the function 😄 Hope that helps!
For the people like me that have thousands of emails to delete and don't have a fancy business account, if you use @ethaniel script you will get Exceeded maximum execution time after 6 minutes, a way to get over it is setting a trigger 🕐 to execute every 5 minutes calling the function 😄 Hope that helps!
And don’t forget to “deploy” the script, so the trigger would actually work!
hi! i'm getting this message when i run the program. i may not be getting the proper authorization scope. please advise. thanks
Error
Exception: The script does not have permission to perform that action. Required permissions: (https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.metadata || https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.readonly || https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.modify || https://mail.google.com/)
batchDeleteEmail @ BatchDeleteEmails.gs:3
hi! i'm getting this message when i run the program. i may not be getting the proper authorization scope. please advise. thanks
Error Exception: The script does not have permission to perform that action. Required permissions: (https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.metadata || https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.readonly || https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.modify || https://mail.google.com/) batchDeleteEmail @ BatchDeleteEmails.gs:3
it looks like i'm missing the authorization to log onto my gmail account. which i think should be built into the code.
no one has experienced that error message?
Error Exception: The script does not have permission to perform that action. Required permissions: (https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.metadata || https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.readonly || https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.modify || https://mail.google.com/) batchDeleteEmail @ BatchDeleteEmails.gs:3
@jmjeanjm @timur-tabi have you guys solved this problem?
@jmjeanjm @LucipherVenus I've updated the comment section of the code to include the information @timur-tabi linked above
Try that and let me know if it resolves the issue for you.
I was getting the following error:
Exception: Access denied: : Metadata scope does not support 'q' parameter.
at processEmail(Code:70:26)
at batchDeleteEmail(Code:55:3)
But was able to fix after removing the following from oauthScopes:
"https://www.googleapis.com/auth/gmail.metadata",
@celestialeye Thanks, I'll update the instructions to remove that scope.
How nice it is to see the emails from that massive folder slowly but surely disappearing. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you! Deleted 1.6M emails in one night.
This is fantastic! Thank you!
@Hectorhammett, @asifiqbal, what I noticed is that this worked/works perfectly:
function batchDeleteEmail() {
processEmail('in:inbox after:2018/01/01 before:2022/09/01', 'moveThreadsToTrash');
}
function processEmail(search, batchAction) {
var batchSize = 100; // Process up to 100 threads at once
var searchSize = 500; // Limit search result to a max of 400 threads. Use this if you encounter the "Exceeded maximum execution time" error
console.log('starting with search size: ' + searchSize);
var threads = GmailApp.search(search, 0, searchSize);
for (j = 0; j < threads.length; j += batchSize) {
console.log('removing batch: ' + j + '-' + Number(j + batchSize));
GmailApp[batchAction](threads.slice(j, j + batchSize));
}
console.log('done with search size: ' + threads.length);
}
9:03:13 AM Notice Execution started
9:03:15 AM Info starting with search size: 500
9:03:15 AM Info done with search size: 0
9:03:14 AM Notice Execution completed
But this fails:
function batchDeleteEmail() {
processEmail('in:inbox after:2022/01/01 before:2022/12/01', 'moveThreadsToTrash');
}
function processEmail(search, batchAction) {
var batchSize = 100; // Process up to 100 threads at once
var searchSize = 500; // Limit search result to a max of 400 threads. Use this if you encounter the "Exceeded maximum execution time" error
console.log('starting with search size: ' + searchSize);
var threads = GmailApp.search(search, 0, searchSize);
for (j = 0; j < threads.length; j += batchSize) {
console.log('removing batch: ' + j + '-' + Number(j + batchSize));
GmailApp[batchAction](threads.slice(j, j + batchSize));
}
console.log('done with search size: ' + threads.length);
}
9:06:53 AM Notice Execution started
9:06:54 AM Info starting with search size: 500
9:07:15 AM Error
Exception: Gmail operation not allowed.
processEmail @ Code.gs:10
batchDeleteEmail @ Code.gs:2
I ran it with 1 year at a time and it removed vast amounts of emails, but at 2022/2023 it borked, by reducing to before:2022-06-01 it worked again up until before:2022-10-01 which fails again.
Update some more results:
before:2022/09/15
9:20:25 AM Notice Execution started
9:20:27 AM Info starting with search size: 500
9:20:33 AM Info removing batch: 0-100
9:21:48 AM Info removing batch: 100-200
9:23:02 AM Info removing batch: 200-300
9:24:18 AM Info removing batch: 300-400
9:25:33 AM Info removing batch: 400-500
9:26:51 AM Info done with search size: 500
9:26:50 AM Notice Execution completed
before:2022/09/25
9:27:50 AM Notice Execution started
9:27:52 AM Info starting with search size: 500
9:27:54 AM Info removing batch: 0-100
9:29:10 AM Info removing batch: 100-200
9:30:25 AM Info removing batch: 200-300
9:31:20 AM Info removing batch: 300-400
9:31:47 AM Info removing batch: 400-500
9:32:12 AM Info done with search size: 500
9:32:11 AM Notice Execution completed
before:2022/09/28
9:35:23 AM Notice Execution started
9:35:25 AM Info starting with search size: 500
9:35:27 AM Info removing batch: 0-100
9:36:02 AM Info removing batch: 100-200
9:36:34 AM Info removing batch: 200-300
9:37:07 AM Info removing batch: 300-400
9:37:38 AM Info removing batch: 400-500
9:38:09 AM Info done with search size: 500
9:38:08 AM Notice Execution completed
before:2022/09/29:
9:38:57 AM Notice Execution started
9:38:58 AM Info starting with search size: 500
9:39:51 AM Error
Exception: Gmail operation not allowed.
processEmail @ Code.gs:10
batchDeleteEmail @ Code.gs:2
Confirmed failure on before:2022/09/29 3 times more and then ran before:2022/09/28 again which was succesfull again.
Head batchDeleteEmail Editor Oct 4, 2023, 9:41:44 AM 285.671 s Completed
Head batchDeleteEmail Editor Oct 4, 2023, 9:40:36 AM 23.158 s Failed
Head batchDeleteEmail Editor Oct 4, 2023, 9:40:04 AM 22.636 s Failed
Head batchDeleteEmail Editor Oct 4, 2023, 9:38:58 AM 54.405 s Failed
Head batchDeleteEmail Editor Oct 4, 2023, 9:35:24 AM 164.667 s Completed
Head batchDeleteEmail Editor Oct 4, 2023, 9:27:51 AM 261.174 s Completed
Head batchDeleteEmail Editor Oct 4, 2023, 9:20:26 AM 384.693 s Completed
Thanks for this code!
I added a try/catch to keep running despite the very frequent "Gmail operation not allowed" exceptions, and some random delays to try to reduce those exceptions. This gets my triggered runs to execute for the full 1800 seconds allowed, and a new one is kicked off every half an hour. I have managed to move some 8,000,000 messages to the trash in a few days.
-ben
//source: https://gist.github.com/gene1wood/0f455239490e5342fa49
var email_search = 'label:<mylabel> from:an@email.address'
function batchDeleteEmail() {
try {
processEmail(email_search, 'moveThreadsToTrash');
}
catch(error) {
Logger.log(error)
Logger.log('Re-trying...')
batchDeleteEmail();
}
}
function processEmail(search, batchAction) {
var removed = 0;
var batchSize = 100; // Process up to 100 threads at once
var searchSize = 500; // Maximum search result size is 500
var threads = GmailApp.search(search, 0, searchSize);
var rando = 0;
Logger.log('Found '+threads.length+' threads matching search: "'+search+'".')
while (threads) {
for (j = 0; j < threads.length; j += batchSize) {
rando = Math.floor(Math.random() * 3000);
Logger.log('Removing threads '+j+' to '+(j + batchSize)+'...');
GmailApp[batchAction](threads.slice(j, j + batchSize));
Logger.log('Sleeping for '+rando+' milliseconds.');
Utilities.sleep(rando);
removed += batchSize;
}
if ( ( removed % 2000 ) == 0 ) {
rando = Math.floor(Math.random() * 40000);
while ( rando < 20000 ) {
rando = Math.floor(Math.random() * 40000);
}
Logger.log('Long sleeping for '+rando+' milliseconds.');
Utilities.sleep(rando); // long sleep to try to keep api calls working...
}
threads = GmailApp.search(search, 0, searchSize);
Logger.log('Total removed so far: '+removed+'.');
Logger.log('Found '+threads.length+' more threads, removing...');
}
}
I want to create a script to delete emails from a specific bank with a transaction amount of less than some number, once a day or a couple of times per week. Any suggestions will help.
Thank you all for sharing your scripts! They have been super helpful.
I just wanted to mention that there seems to be a daily limitation now on how many times a script can be ran per day. I canceled some of the simultaneous scripts in the beginning when testing things out, so I'm not exactly sure if some of the canceled scripts are counted in the daily total or not, but the limit is somewhere between 40 to 50 scripts per day.
That worked perfect. Now I just setup a trigger to run hourly. Does it start at the beginning of the hour? There is nothing under
Last run
yet