Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@mkopit
Forked from jamesramsay/README.md
Last active August 25, 2020 17:35
Show Gist options
  • Save mkopit/33b589c5933a81a080db1c3328677507 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Save mkopit/33b589c5933a81a080db1c3328677507 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Gmail: delete old emails automatically

Gmail: delete old emails automatically

Automatically deletes old emails that match the specified label.

Get started

  • Create a new Google Apps Script at https://script.google.com
  • Overwrite the placeholder with the javascript below
  • Update the following constants:
    • LABEL_TO_DELETE: the label that should be have old messages deleted
    • DELETE_AFTER_DAYS: the age of messsages after which they will be moved to trash
  • Save the script, then run:
    • Initialize
    • Install

If you ever want to remove the script, run Uninstall to remove any left over triggers.

Changelog

2017-07-31

  • Added support for multiple labels
  • Added configurable TRIGGER_NAME
  • Increased default page size
  • Decreased default delay between receipt and delete

2016-01-21

  • Removed use of deprecated Session.getTimeZone()
  • Improved efficiency for long threads by checking thread.getLastMessageDate()

Acknowledgements

H/T: Arun's post How to Auto Delete Old Emails In Any Gmail Label

// The name of the Gmail Label that is to be checked for purging?
var LABELS_TO_DELETE = [
"your-label-here"
];
var TRIGGER_NAME = "dailyDeleteGmail";
// Purge messages in the above label automatically after how many days?
var DELETE_AFTER_DAYS = "60";
var TIMEZONE = "AEST";
// Maximum number of threads to process per run
// Note: this cannot be greater than 500, because Google reasons
var PAGE_SIZE = 500;
// If number of threads exceeds page size, resume job after X mins (max execution time is 6 mins)
var RESUME_FREQUENCY = 7;
// First trigger will run this many minutes after Install function is executed
var INSTALL_DELAY = 2;
/*
IMPLEMENTATION
*/
function Intialize() {
return;
}
function Install() {
// First run trigger
ScriptApp.newTrigger(TRIGGER_NAME)
.timeBased()
.at(new Date((new Date()).getTime() + 1000*60*INSTALL_DELAY))
.create();
}
function Uninstall() {
var triggers = ScriptApp.getProjectTriggers();
for (var i=0; i<triggers.length; i++) {
ScriptApp.deleteTrigger(triggers[i]);
}
}
function dailyDeleteGmail() {
var age = new Date();
age.setDate(age.getDate() - DELETE_AFTER_DAYS);
var purge = Utilities.formatDate(age, TIMEZONE, "yyyy-MM-dd");
var search = "(label:" + LABELS_TO_DELETE.join(" OR label:") + ") before:" + purge;
Logger.log("PURGE: " + purge);
Logger.log("SEARCH: " + search);
try {
// Google Scripts has a stupid 20 trigger limit, which you can easily exceed if
// there's a lot of mail that needs deleting. There's also no way that I know of
// to find out the trigger execution date, name, run status or anything else useful from
// invoking getProjectTriggers that might allow you to delete expired triggers.
// Therefore, the only thing you can do to guarantee that you will not run out of
// triggers is to stupidly delete ALL triggers and recreate the daily trigger.
// It is dumb, but dumb is the way here.
// Get rid of all triggers
Uninstall()
// Intstall daily trigger... Sigh.
ScriptApp.newTrigger(TRIGGER_NAME)
.timeBased().everyDays(1).create();
var threads = GmailApp.search(search, 0, PAGE_SIZE);
// Resume again in RESUME_FREQUENCY minutes
if (threads.length == PAGE_SIZE) {
Logger.log("Scheduling follow up job...");
ScriptApp.newTrigger(TRIGGER_NAME)
.timeBased()
.at(new Date((new Date()).getTime() + 1000*60*RESUME_FREQUENCY))
.create();
}
// Move threads/messages which meet age criteria to trash
Logger.log("Processing " + threads.length + " threads...");
for (var i=0; i<threads.length; i++) {
var thread = threads[i];
if (thread.getLastMessageDate() < age) {
thread.moveToTrash();
} else {
var messages = GmailApp.getMessagesForThread(threads[i]);
for (var j=0; j<messages.length; j++) {
var email = messages[j];
if (email.getDate() < age) {
// Never logs anything... Mysterious... Logs to Narnia?
Logger.log("Deleting: " + email.getSubject())
email.moveToTrash();
}
}
}
}
} catch (e) {
Logger.log(e);
throw(e);
}
}
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment