How to Archive Emails (Gmail, Outlook Live, Yahoo Mail)

A cluttered email inbox takes up valuable inventory space. It makes it harder for you to find what you need and it may even be distracting. However, you can’t always delete your emails, because they may contain information you’ll need later.

Archiving your emails is a good solution to this, because it allows you to clear emails from your inbox without actually deleting them. When you archive an email, it gets sent to another section of your inbox, where you can then retrieve and un-archive it whenever you need. Archived emails are also placed back in your inbox when someone replies to them, so you don’t have to worry about keeping them in your inbox just in case you get a reply.

There are different ways of archiving an email, depending on the email provider you’re using and whether you’re on a desktop browser or mobile. Let’s take a look at how to archive your emails and take control of your inbox organization.

How to Archive an Email in Gmail on a Desktop Browser (PC and Mac)

Using a desktop browser often gives you more direct access to features and buttons offered by Gmail. With this method, you should:

1. Sign into your Gmail account.
2. Select the email you want to archive.
3. Click on the ‘Archive’ icon at the top of your inbox, right above your list of emails, but underneath the search bar. The archive icon looks like a box with an arrow pointing down.
4. To archive multiple emails at once, click on the small box at the top left corner above your emails. This will select all your emails in your current folder, so you can archive them at once.

Once you archive an email from your inbox, a pop-up box will appear on the bottom left corner of your screen, letting you know that the action was completed. The pop-up also gives you the option to undo the action and un-archive the email. If you click ‘Undo,’ the email will pop back into your inbox.

How to Archive an Email in Gmail on Mobile (Android and iPhone)

Of course, most people access emails and other messages through their phone, so you can still leverage this feature over the app.

1. Open your Gmail app and sign in.
2. Swipe the email to the right or left to archive it. You can change the swipe command in your settings to determine which swipe direction archives the email and which one marks it as read.
3. You can also archive the email if you open it and tap the ‘Archive’ icon at the top right.

How to Archive an Email in Microsoft Outlook on a Desktop Browser (PC or Mac)

Use these steps on Microsoft Outlook to archive via a browser:

1. Sign in to your Microsoft Outlook account.
2. Select the email you want to archive.
3. Click on ‘Archive’ on the menu bar above your emails. It’s next to the ‘Delete’ option.

Once the email is archived, Outlook will let you know that the action has been completed with a pop-up at the bottom middle of your screen. On that pop-up message, you can click ‘Undo’ to un-archive the email.

How to Archive an Email in Microsoft Outlook on Mobile (Android and iPhone)

Steps for archiving emails via the MS Outlook app is much like with the Gmail app.

1. Go to the Outlook app and sign in.
2. Swipe left on the email you want archived.
3. To archive the email while it’s open, simply tap the archive box at the top left corner of your screen. It looks like a file box and it’s located next to the trash icon.

How to Archive an Email in Yahoo Mail on a Desktop Browser (PC and Mac)

Yahoo offers a similar interface as Gmail, whether on PC or Mac.

1. Go to Yahoo Mail and sign in.
2. Click on the email you want to archive.
3. Click the ‘Archive’ button at the top menu bar above your emails.
4. To mass archive emails, click the small box at the top left corner above your emails. This will select all your emails, so they get archived once you hit the ‘Archive’ option.

Yahoo Mail will let you know that the action is complete with a pop-up near the search bar in the top middle of the screen. If you wish to undo the action, click the blue ‘Undo’ button and your archived emails will return to your inbox.

How to Archive an Email in Yahoo Mail on Mobile (Android and iPhone)

Slightly more complicated, but still straightforward, you can archive emails with Yahoo Mail’s app:

1. Go to the Yahoo Mail app and sign in.
2. Long tap the email you want archived to select it.
3. Tap ‘Archive’ at the bottom left corner of your screen.
4. When viewing an email on the Yahoo Mail app, simply tap ‘Archive’ at the bottom left corner of the screen to archive it.

Can You Mass Archive Emails in Outlook Live?

Mass archiving emails in Gmail and Yahoo Mail is easy, but with Outlook Live, it’s a little different. In the web-based version of Outlook, you can select all your emails by clicking the circled checkmark next to the name of the folder you’re in. It’s located at the top left, above your list of emails, but below the top menu bar where the delete and archive options are.

However, Outlook doesn’t let you move an entire folder to another folder, so you can’t send all of your emails to the archive folder if you mass select like this. That option is only available in Microsoft 365, not Outlook.com.

If you have more Outlook emails you would like to keep than archive, you’ll have to individually select each email by clicking the circle to the left of the emails and then archiving them. If you have more emails you want to archive than keep, it’s easier to mass select them with the circled checkmark and then de-select the ones you want to keep before archiving.

Can You Automatically Archive Emails?

Yes, you can change your settings to automatically archive emails from specific websites or senders. Here’s how:

Automatically Archive Gmail Emails

This can be completed most easily on a desktop browser, but is also available through the app settings.

1. Go to your Gmail and sign in.
2. Click the filter icon located at the far right of the search box.
3. In the ‘From’ section of the pop-up box, type the name of the company or sender whose emails you wish to automatically archive.
4. Click ‘Create filter’ on the bottom right of the pop-up box.
5. Click the ‘Skip to inbox (Archive it)’ option.
6. Click ‘Create filter’ at the bottom left of the pop-up box.

Automatically Archive Microsoft Outlook Emails

This process is more complicated in MS Outlook, but still takes only seconds:

1. Go to Microsoft Outlook and sign in.
2. Click the gear icon at the top right of your screen.
3. Click ‘View all Outlook settings’ at the bottom of the settings panel.
4. Click ‘Rules’.
5. Click ‘Add new rule’.
6. Name your rule.
7. Select a condition and then choose if you want to automatically archive emails based on the sender, where your name is on the email, the subject, keywords, and more. You can add multiple conditions at a time.
8. Select an action.
9. Click ‘Move to’ under ‘Organize’.
10. Click ‘Select a folder’.
11. Select ‘Archive’.
12. Click ‘Save’.

Automatically Archive Yahoo Mail Emails

Yahoo allows automatic archiving much like Gmail’s process:

1. Go to Yahoo Mail and sign in.
2. Click the gear icon at the top right.
3. Select ‘Filter’ on the left menu bar.
4. Click ‘Add new filters’.
5. Type your filter name.
6. Select a condition to automatically filter emails based on the words they contain, who they’re from, and more.
7. Select a folder to move the emails to.
8. Click ‘Save’.