Background

Rather than deleting messages one by one, clearing a full inbox can be faster by deleting messages in groups. However, this can be difficult if messages to keep are mixed in with those to be deleted. In the example below, we can see five messages that we want to delete, mixed with messages we'd like to keep.

Here, we'll select a group and delete them all at once. This sample group is small, however, you could theoretically select dozens of messages with this technique

Deleting Unwanted Messages With the CTRL Key

1. Single click the bottom message, #1.

2. Now, for PC computers, hold the Control key on your keyboard. For Mac computers, hold the Command key.

3. Holding Ctrl (PC) or Command (Mac), single-click messages labeled 2, 3, 4, and 5.

4. When you let go, a non-contiguous group has been selected.

5. Press the delete key to delete the group. Three messages that were not selected will remain.

Here is the Inbox after 5 messages have been deleted:

Maintained by the IT Help Desk - Last Revised 7/22/15