auto-delete-gmail-script

A Google Apps Script to purge Gmail messages by label

HOW TO

1. Go to https://script.google.com (make sure your profile is correct for personal or work email)

2. Click the New Script button in the upper left.

3. Copy and paste the code from AutoDeleteGmailByLabel.gs into the new Code.gs editor provided for you. Then press Ctrl+S (or Cmd+S) to save.

4. For the "Project Name" enter "Auto-Delete-Gmail-by-Label". (This will create a gscript document in your Google Drive root folder.)

5. Edit the LABELS_TO_DELETE list. You can use an asterisk (*) to match simple patterns for labels, and values for each entry should be the retention period in days. For example, to purge all messages for all labels nested under "Archive" after 30 days, but keep messages under "Archive/Keep" for up to 1 year, use the following example config:

var LABELS_TO_DELETE = {
  "Archive/*": 30,
  "Archive/Keep": 365
};

(Note that the above will not purge anything with just the "Archive" label, but it will specifically look for anything nested under "Archive".)

Once you've adjusted your label rules save the script.

6. After adjusting the configuration, from the menu bar select "Run" -> "Run Function" -> "Install". This will schedule an initial run for the cleanup script 2 minutes from execution time, as well as schedule a daily execution bewteen 1:00-2:00 AM in your local timezone.

TROUBLESHOOTING

From the script editor, you can select "View" -> "Executions" to see a list of executed scripts and any related logs. If you encounter any issues feel free to message me on Twitter @angrychimp or via Keybase (https://keybase.io/angrychimp).