How to Find Archived Emails in Gmail

Where are the archives in Gmail? Where do messages go when you click on Archive? How do I find them?

“Archived” is different from “Deleted”

When you click on “Archive”, the mail is removed from the inbox so as not to clutter it, but it is not deleted. It is simply hidden and can be found quite easily through a search or by viewing all messages.

1^st Method to find an archived message in Gmail

Simply do a search in Gmail, for example by typing one or more words that are present in the mail, or the subject of the mail, or the sender.

In the search results, you will be able to find archived emails (as well as others that are still in the inbox).

Unfortunately, it is not possible to search only in archived emails.

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2^nd Method to see where archived messages are in Gmail

It is possible to view all the emails in your account, whether they are archived or not:

1. Log in to Gmail (on app or web browser)
2. Expand the menu (in the app or the left column on computer)
3. Locate “All Mail” and click it

Note: If you need help… How to find your lost Gmail password

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If you don’t see the “All Mail” link :

• look for a “More” link and click it, you should see the “All Messages” link appear
• if that’s not enough, go to Gmail settings (cogwheel at the top right on computer) then click on “See all settings”, click on the “Labels” tab and click on “show” next to “All messages”. Also check the “View as IMAP” box if you use this protocol to view Gmail.

See also: empty Gmail trash

Other Tips

How to retrieve a mail or a conversation archived in the Gmail box?

There is no way to do this directly. If the message has been archived recently, it is easy to find it by clicking on the “All messages” link. Otherwise, you have to find it by doing a keyword search.

Once you have found it, check the box in front of the line and then click on the “Place in Inbox” icon. This way, the message or conversation will be retrieved from the archives.

See also: how to increase Gmail storage space for free?

How do I access archived messages (view the archive folder) in Gmail?

There is no Archive folder in Gmail! Archived messages are simply hidden, outside the inbox. Although it’s inconvenient, you can find them among all the messages in your Google mailbox by clicking the “All messages” link.

What’s the difference between Archive and Delete in Gmail?

Archiving a message simply removes it from your inbox, without deleting it, while deleting a message places it in the trash (it will be permanently deleted after a certain amount of time).

To save space in your Google account (storage quotas), you should delete messages that no longer interest you, not just archive them.

Note: to make space, you can permanently delete messages from the trash, or just delete all Gmail messages at once. If you no longer need Gmail, you can also delete a Gmail account completely.

How do I automatically archive certain messages in Gmail?

You can set up Gmail to have a new button to archive an email as soon as you reply to it. To do this, go to the Settings, “General” tab, “Send and archive” section: check the box “Show the ‘Send and archive’ button in the reply”, then click on “Save changes” at the bottom.

What is the keyboard shortcut to archive a message in Gmail?

You need to press the e key to archive the selected or displayed message. Don’t forget to activate the keyboard shortcuts in Gmail: in the Settings, in the “General” tab, “Send and archive” section: check the “Activate keyboard shortcuts” box, then click on “Save changes” at the bottom.

Other questions

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