Advice Request Should I delete my old received/sent emails?

Please provide comments and solutions that are helpful to the author of this topic.

Do you delete old received/sent emails?

  • Yes, everything

    Votes: 12 26.7%
  • Sensitive emails only

    Votes: 2 4.4%
  • Non-important emails

    Votes: 27 60.0%
  • Spam emails only

    Votes: 17 37.8%
  • Never deleted anything

    Votes: 2 4.4%

  • Total voters
    45

Ink

Administrator
Thread author
Verified
Staff Member
Well-known
Jan 8, 2011
22,361
From a security and privacy perspective, would it be a good idea to delete Emails I have Received over a year ago, including Sent and Drafts?

What are your thoughts on this matter?

Edit: Change to multiple votes, 2 maximum.
 
Last edited:

DracusNarcrym

Level 20
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Oct 16, 2015
970
I only delete non-important e-mails and spam e-mails (spam is automatically filtered and deleted as I use Google Mail, I don't delete it manually).
An example of non-important e-mails: Offers or discount notifications from Steam or other online stores, which are no longer valid.
There is obviously no need for examples of spam e-mails, they are self-explanatory. :p
 
Last edited:

Online_Sword

Level 12
Verified
Honorary Member
Top Poster
Well-known
Mar 23, 2015
555
For me, it varies from mailbox to mailbox:

1. The mailbox given by the institute and used for sending/receiving official mails: nearly delete nothing except some with huge attachments. PST files are frequently and manually backed up.

2. The mailbox bound to the mobile phone: I have created a set of rules such that only important mails will not be dropped by the server automatically. This is essential since many of my other mailboxes will forward emails to this mailbox. My phone will automatically delete the mails received 7 days before.

3. The other mailboxes: I visit these mailboxes with the browsers, and never download the emails in those mailboxes, except some receipts. So the storage of those mails is not a problem, since nowadays the capacities of the mailboxes are nearly infinite. (The capacity of my first mailbox was just 20MB at that time.) In such case, I do not want to clean the mailboxes since I am a little lazy.
 

kev216

Level 21
Verified
Honorary Member
Top Poster
Content Creator
Well-known
Aug 6, 2014
1,044
I actually don't have that much work to do this job. I just go through the list and see which are too old, or not important anymore. All the spam is sent to my second 'junk' mail adress, so I never have to worry about spam in my mailbox :)
 

CMLew

Level 23
Verified
Well-known
Oct 30, 2015
1,251
Usually what I would do is I create filters for email.
Then every month I just go to filter scroll through see if anything interesting/ important and then delete.
Any new email i will usually read in priority and manually delete if needed.

Important email I usually multiple back-up. I forward the email to another email account. At the same time, I save it and then print it out (depends how important it is).
Once back-up done, I delete them.
Usually done once every 3 months.

Typically, my mailbox should not exceed 200-300 emails per month granted no other people spamming me. :)
 

Cats-4_Owners-2

Level 39
Verified
Honorary Member
Top Poster
Well-known
Dec 4, 2013
2,800
What's Alias mails? Curious...
@CMLew, I believe what Quillathe referred to as 'Alias mails' is the use of temporary (or disposable) emails which do not reveal your actual email address. From a security standpoint, this is a plus for keeping one's real email private. One example offered through "Blur" is an option to substitute one's real address (for privacy) with a "Masked" substitute email. I've memorized one I've used that ends in @opayq.com which forwards corresponding email to my @gmail.com account.

From Blur:
"All Masked information is real, meaning it works. It just cannot be tracked back to you or abused.
  • If you give a site a masked email and they email you, you'll receive that email forwarded privately to your real email address you've set up with Blur."
Source: Blur: Keep your web activity and personal info private

As many fellow email users here, I attempt to delete old & useless email.
Sentimentality, on the other hand, has allowed my (5) separate email addresses, at times, to become cluttered as do some people's garages which are eventually no longer used to park their :eek:cars anymore! My main problem with "Masked" (alias) email is how I've grown attached to the temporary email I've memorized instead of disposing it!:rolleyes: Like passwords, emails can be altered or changed. In my opinion, it's better not to become attached with emails that are essentially old mail, or any disposable email addresses for that matter.;)
I suggest separating that which you value apart from what you do not, and don't be too concerned about keeping worthless emails such as old notices that have no further use.:cool:
..but, now, all of my old PMs here on MT are another matter altogether!:oops: :D
 
Last edited:

jamescv7

Level 85
Verified
Honorary Member
Mar 15, 2011
13,070
If no vital information contain on the sent emails then better delete at all to practice the habit, even though many email-services provide unlimited storage capacity, hence its too much when they are just occupy without anything use.
 

About us

  • MalwareTips is a community-driven platform providing the latest information and resources on malware and cyber threats. Our team of experienced professionals and passionate volunteers work to keep the internet safe and secure. We provide accurate, up-to-date information and strive to build a strong and supportive community dedicated to cybersecurity.

User Menu

Follow us

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to know first about the latest cybersecurity incidents and malware threats.

Top