How to find archived emails in Gmail and manage them

In this guide, you will learn how to find archived emails in Gmail, then quickly access, view, and retrieve them. I'll cover the crucial differences between archiving, deleting, and muting, and help you discover productivity tips such as bulk archiving, filtering, and labeling your incoming mail.

It's much easier to maintain focus when you know how to properly organize and retrieve your emails. This guide will show you how to set up automatic organization and transform your Gmail from a source of stress into a productivity hub 🚀.

What does archive mean in Gmail?

Archiving in Gmail means removing your emails from the inbox without deleting them. But why do this?

You may receive hundreds of emails every day. Some of them are clearly important, while others not. And sometimes it’s not easy to distinguish, or you may simply not have time to deal with them. They can stay unread for weeks, overwhelming your inbox. In such circumstances, it’s easy to lose important information or miss crucial notifications. Keeping your inbox clean saves you from such trouble.

Archive vs Delete vs Mute in Gmail

To reduce clutter in your inbox, you have three main options: archiving, deleting, or muting messages. Which one to choose and when? Let’s see 🧐.

Option 1: Archive emails in Gmail

This option is best for documents you don’t need right now, but might want to have on hand for the future. Picture your mail as a physical desk, where you can place documents you don't need immediately into desk drawers. With this approach, your desk surface (inbox) stays comfortably empty, and your documents remain safe (archived) for future use.

Key features in archiving:

  • Your emails are removed from the inbox, but not deleted.
  • All attachments are safely stored.
  • If a new message arrives in an archived thread, the thread will be unarchived automatically.
  • You can unarchive emails anytime.

Archiving is the ideal choice for important conversations, legal documents, financial records, or travel confirmations.

To archive an email, just select your email and click on the Archive icon. You can find it either in the toolbar at the top or on the right side of the email when you hover over it:
Icon for archiving an email, located in the toolbar or on hover.

Learn how to find and unarchive emails in the next chapters 😉.

Option 2: Delete emails in Gmail

This option works best for emails you are sure you will never need again. Deleted emails go straight to your trash folder and stay there for 30 days. After this period, they will be permanently removed with all attachments.

Key features in deleting:

  • It retrieves storage space in Gmail.
  • Deleted emails remain in Trash for 30 days to give you a chance to restore them.
  • After 30 days, deleted emails are automatically erased, including all attachments.
  • You can manually empty the Trash or double-delete emails at any time if needed.

It’s the best option when you’re dealing with old notifications, expired promotions, conversations that are definitively over, or any sensitive data you don’t want to keep.

Tip: If you receive spam, it's better to Report spam than delete it. It helps to block similar messages in the future.

To delete your message, select it and click the Trash bin on the toolbar or on the right side of the email:
Trash bin icon for deleting a selected email, shown in the toolbar.

Deleted an important email draft by mistake? Learn how to recover it in this article.

Option 3: Muting email

This option is similar to archiving, as it removes emails from your inbox without deleting them. But it has a major difference: new messages in the thread will skip your inbox. It’s convenient as a subtle way to ignore notifications from a conversation without notifying the sender.

Key features in muting:

  • New messages in a muted thread are automatically archived.
  • The thread is saved so you can always look back at the conversation if needed.
  • Lets you leave a noisy conversation without any notification to the other participants.

With this option, you can quietly step away from long conversations that aren't relevant to you anymore, without actually exiting the thread.

Note: If the message in the thread is sent only to you, you’ll still get it in the inbox so you don’t miss important information.

To silence a thread, select it, click the three-dot menu in the toolbar and choose Mute:
Three-dot menu icon in an email toolbar with the Mute option highlighted.

Tip: To stop ignoring a given thread, find it in the All Mail folder, click three-dots in the toolbar and choose Unmute:

Pop-up with Unmute option.

Where do archived emails go in Gmail and how to find them

Let’s dive right in: there is no dedicated Archive folder in Gmail. In fact, Gmail’s archive folder is the All Mail folder, as all your archived emails will be stored here. This folder contains emails from your inbox and outbox, as well as all your drafts.

Next, we'll examine how to find your archived emails there.

How to view archived emails in Gmail in All Mail

The All Mail folder is somewhat hidden on the interface:

  1. Open your Gmail account.
  2. Click More on the left side of the screen.
    The More section in the Gmail sidebar.
  3. Scroll down to the All Mail label and click it to view the content.
    Location of the All Mail folder under the More section in Gmail.

Unfortunately, there is no special button to see only archived emails: all your emails are mixed up here. This is where the search bar comes in handy.

How to search archived emails in Gmail

You can view the archived emails separately using Search:

  1. Open Gmail and click the Search bar.
  2. Type in:archive and hit Enter.
    Gmail search bar with the query in:archive entered to find archived emails.

The search will automatically filter your emails and display only the archived ones.

Note: You may also find some emails from your inbox here, as Gmail shows the entire thread if even one older message within it was archived.

How to access archived emails in Gmail quickly

For advanced search, you can combine in:archive with other operators to narrow your search:

  • From a particular person: in:archive from:john.doe@gmail.com
  • Within a specific date range: in:archive after:2025/01/01 before:2025/09/25
  • Containing distinct words: in:archive "ticket"
    Advanced Gmail search using the operator in:archive combined with a specific keyword.

You can also use filters like Subject line or Has the words to find specific archived emails without typing operators. To do so, click Show search options on the right side of the search bar and enter your search terms.
The expanded search options menu in Gmail, highlighting the form fields for searching without operators.

For even faster navigation, use keyboard shortcuts.

To enable shortcuts in Gmail:

  1. Go to Settings > See all settings > General > Keyboard shortcuts.
  2. Select Keyboard shortcuts on and click Save Changes at the bottom of the settings page.
    Enabling Gmail keyboard shortcuts in the Settings menu under the General tab.

Then you can press G to open the Go to navigation menu and A to select All Mail. This two-key combination will immediately take you to the All Mail view.

How to retrieve archived emails in Gmail

Retrieving your archived emails simply means placing them back in your inbox.

If you've just archived an email by mistake, you can undo it:

  1. Look for the Undo notification at the bottom-left of the screen.
  2. Click Undo within 5 seconds to cancel the action.
    Gmail interface showing the Undo notification that appears briefly.

    Note: You can extend your Undo window, learn how to do it in this article.

To restore archived emails from the All Mail folder, follow these steps:

  1. Tick the box to the left of the sender's name to select the archived message.
  2. Click Move to inbox in the toolbar.
    Gmail's All Mail folder view with a message selected, showing the Move to Inbox button in the toolbar.

    Note: If you're retrieving archived emails not from All Mail, but from some other labels or search results, you may not have a direct icon to move to inbox. In this case, click Move to and choose your Inbox (or any other label you want).

    The Move to action in Gmail, highlighting the Inbox option in the dropdown list.

Your email will appear in your inbox again.

Productivity tips for email management

Now that you know how archiving works, let’s learn some tips to get the most out of the function and optimize your workflow đŸ’Ș.

How do I delete archived emails in Gmail?

Your archived emails are removed from the inbox, but stored in All Mail.

To delete them permanently follow these instructions:

  1. Find and select the archived messages you want to delete.
  2. Click Trash in the toolbar.
    Deleting an archived email by selecting it and clicking the trash can icon.

How to automatically archive emails

If you're sending a message in Gmail that you don't necessarily want a reply for, you can send and archive it:

  1. Open Gmail.
  2. Click Settings > See all Settings > General tab.
  3. Scroll to the Send and Archive section and select Show "Send & Archive" button in reply.
  4. Click Save Changes.
    Enabling the Send and Archive button for replies in Gmail's General Settings menu.
  5. Open an email you want to respond to and click Reply.
  6. Create an email and click Send+.
    The Send + button in Gmail to reply to an email and immediately archive the thread.

With this setting, your archived email will stay in the All Mail folder unless someone responds to it. After a reply, your archived conversation reappears in the inbox. But as soon as you click Send+ in reply to that email, Gmail will automatically re-archive the entire thread.

How to bulk archive emails in Gmail

To archive multiple messages, you’ll need to:

  1. Open your Gmail inbox.
  2. Click Select all checkbox at the top (or use the dropdown menu for more specific options).
    Gmail toolbar with the Select all checkbox and its dropdown menu visible, for selecting multiple messages.
  3. Hit the Archive button.
    The Archive button in Gmail used for moving multiple selected emails out of the inbox.

In this case, all the selected messages from your inbox will be archived.

How to mass archive emails by search query

To archive multiple emails that meet specific criteria, follow these instructions:

  1. Use the search bar at the top of your Gmail.
  2. Enter a search query such as before:2025/09/01 to find all emails from before this date.
  3. Press Enter to view the search results.
  4. Check the Select all box again and click the Archive button.
    Gmail search results page showing the Select all checkbox chosen and the Archive button in the toolbar, after searching with a query.

Using this method, all your messages before 2025/09/01 will be bulk archived.

How to create a filter to automatically archive emails in Gmail

To set up a filter to automatically move specific incoming emails from inbox to archive, follow these steps:

  1. Click the Show search options icon.
  2. Enter the criteria for the emails you want to archive. For example, you can filter by a specific sender's email address.
  3. Once you've set your criteria, click Create filter.
    Clicking the Create filter button in Gmail after defining criteria.
  4. On the next screen, check the Skip the Inbox (Archive it) box.
    The Skip the Inbox and Apply to existing emails checkboxes selected in Gmail's filter settings.

    Tip: Check Also apply filter to matching conversations to archive all existing emails that meet your criteria.

  5. Click Create filter to save and activate the rule.

From now on, any new email that matches your criteria will automatically bypass the inbox and go straight to All Mail.

If you need to change or delete a filter later:

  1. Go to Settings > See all settings.
  2. Click on the Filters and Blocked Addresses tab.
  3. Edit or delete any of your existing filters.
    The Filters and Blocked Addresses tab in Gmail Settings where you can edit or delete created filters.

Organize Gmail better with archive and labels

Imagine that you open your inbox and immediately see only what needs your attention today. Pretty convenient, right?

There is a whole strategy called Inbox Zero, whose goal is to triage your emails quickly to reduce clutter. According to this strategy, your inbox is for active tasks only, not for storage. Every incoming email should be immediately processed by being deleted, delegated, responded to, or archived:

  • Delete old notifications, conversations that are no longer relevant, or any message that has zero long-term value.
  • Delegate emails containing tasks or questions, if you are not the right person to handle it.
  • Respond to emails, if you can read, understand, and type a reply in two minutes or less.
  • Archive any email that you don't delete, delegate, or respond to immediately.

And since this article is about archiving, let's take a closer look at the last point. Archiving here is your go-to action for anything you might need later. To keep your archive organized create custom labels (which function like folders) to sort messages by topic, urgency, or sender type.

The ideal workflow is simple: before you hit the Archive button on an email, first apply a relevant label like Invoices or Travel Docs. You can take this a step further and set up Filters to label and archive recurring emails like receipts or notifications.

First, you need a so-called folder for your emails to go into. If you don't already have one, create a new label:

  1. In Gmail, scroll down the left-hand menu and click More.
  2. Hit the Create new label option.
    The Create new label button located in the Gmail sidebar menu.
  3. Give it a name and click Create.
    Dialog box showing a label name entered and the Create button.

Next, create a filter to handle these messages. On the actions screen (the second step of creating a filter), check the following two boxes:

  • Skip the Inbox (Archive it)
  • Apply the label:, then use the dropdown menu to select the label you created.
    The Gmail filter options Skip the Inbox and Apply the label selected on the actions screen.

Centralized hub with Shared Email Templates

If you’re working within a team that handles a high volume of repetitive emails, e.g., customer support or sales, a centralized hub for approved responses can significantly improve your workflow.

With Shared Email Templates there will be no need to archive canned responses to maintain consistency, or jump between drafts to find a suitable template. You can build a shared library of pre-written templates directly within Gmail. This ensures everyone on your team uses the most up-to-date messages to answer frequently asked questions, send marketing follow-ups, or onboard new clients.
A shared email templates library within Gmail, showing a list of pre-written templates for support, marketing, and onboarding.

Once the reply is sent, archive the conversation. This creates a highly productive loop where templates ensure quality and speed, while archiving keeps the workspace clean and ready for the next task.

As a result, you’ll get the inbox with fewer complex conversations to track and a less cluttered archive because each interaction is resolved more efficiently. Click the button below to try it for free and see the difference for yourself 👇.


FAQ

Why archive emails in Gmail?

The main reason to archive is to remove emails from your inbox while saving them for future use

How do I read archived Gmail?

Find the archived email and tap to open the message.

How long are archived emails kept in Gmail?

Indefinitely. They will remain in your account unless you manually delete them.

Does archiving emails save Gmail space?

No. The message still exists in your All Mail folder and takes up the exact same amount of storage space. If you need to free up space, you must delete it and then empty the Trash folder.

How do I find the archive folder in Gmail?

There is no dedicated Archive folder in Gmail, all archived emails are stored in All Mail.

What if I cannot locate archived email in All Mail?

Check your Trash and Spam folders, as it could have ended up there by mistake.

What happens when someone replies to an archived email?

When someone replies to an archived email, the entire conversation will return to your inbox.

Why do my emails get archived automatically?

You may have a filter set up. Check your filters under Settings > See all settings > Filters and Blocked Addresses.

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