How to delete multiple emails at once in Microsoft Outlook and empty your inbox faster

• You can delete multiple emails at once when your Outlook inbox or any other Outlook folder is cluttered.
• Using the Shift and CTRL keys, you can choose a consecutive series of emails or any set of non-consecutive messages for deletion.
• Select multiple emails in the Outlook mobile app by tapping and holding a message to enter the app's selection mode.

Unless you practice a time management strategy like Inbox Zero, your Outlook inbox is probably overrun with email. Some may be relevant, but many more are likely obsolete and simply cluttering your view of more urgent messages.

To help clean up your inbox, the email client offers a way to quickly and efficiently delete multiple emails at once. The process for removing multiple emails is the same no matter what version of Outlook you use but is slightly different depending on whether you're on a desktop or the mobile app.

Here are several handy tactics for selecting and deleting multiple emails.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Apple)

Samsung Galaxy S10 (From $699.99 at Walmart)

Apple Macbook Pro (From $1,299.00 at Apple)

Acer Chromebook 15 (From $358.99 at Staples)

How to delete multiple emails in Outlook on a computer

To delete all the emails in a single folder (such as the inbox):

1. Click any message to select it.

2. Then press CTRL + A to select all the messages in the folder.

3. Press the Delete key to eliminate them.

To delete a range of consecutive messages:

1. Click the first message and then scroll to the last email you want to delete.

2. Holding Shift, click the final email.

3. Press Delete.

To delete non-consecutive emails:

1. Press and hold the CTRL button on the keyboard.

2. While still holding CTRL, click each message you want to delete.

3. When you're ready, press Delete.

How to delete multiple emails in Outlook on a mobile device

1. Open the folder with the messages you want to delete.

2. Tap and hold the first message you want to delete. After a moment, checkboxes to the left of each email will appear.

3. Tap each message that you want to delete.

4. If you want to delete everything in this folder, tap "Select All" at the top of the screen.

5. When you're ready, tap the Delete icon at the bottom of the screen.

Related coverage from Tech Reference:

• How to forward emails from Outlook to another account by creating a 'rule' that does it for you automatically

• How to use Bcc in Microsoft Outlook to send emails privately to multiple people

• How to create a group email in Outlook to make emailing a group of people more efficient

• How to create an email template in Outlook to save time in formatting

• How to save Outlook email as a PDF on a PC or Mac computer