Cleaning up inactive contacts in bulk
Over time, your contact list naturally grows with one-time senders, old newsletters, and services you no longer use. Cleaning up keeps your list focused and makes it easier to find the contacts that actually matter.
The contact cleanup tool lets you remove inactive contacts in bulk, with full control over what gets removed and a preview before anything happens.
Accessing the cleanup tool
Go to Contacts and click the “Cleanup” button at the top of the page. This opens the cleanup tool where you can choose how you want to filter contacts for removal.
Cleanup modes
The cleanup tool offers three modes, each targeting a different type of inactive contact:
Remove contacts with no messages
This mode targets contacts that exist in your list but have zero messages associated with them. These are often leftovers from deleted aliases or very old senders whose messages have since expired. This is the safest place to start.
Remove contacts not seen in X days
This mode removes contacts who haven’t sent you an email in a chosen number of days — for example 90, 180, or 365 days. It’s a good way to clear out senders from services you no longer use or people who emailed you once a long time ago.
Remove contacts with state “unset” only
This mode only targets contacts that are still in the default “unset” state. Any contact you’ve manually whitelisted, muted, prioritized, or blocked is never touched.
Preview before executing
After selecting a mode and configuring your criteria, the cleanup tool shows you a preview of how many contacts match. You can review the count and adjust your settings before proceeding. Nothing is removed until you explicitly confirm.
What gets deleted
Only the contact record itself is removed. Deleting their associated messages is optional — you’ll see a checkbox that lets you choose. If you keep the messages, they remain in your message history but are no longer linked to a contact.
Protected contacts
Contacts with any state other than “unset” are automatically excluded from cleanup. This includes contacts you’ve set to:
- Whitelisted
- Prioritized
- Muted
- Blocked
This ensures you never accidentally remove a contact you’ve deliberately configured.
Tips
- Start with a conservative approach: run “no messages” first, then move to “not seen in 365 days” and work your way down.
- Cleanup cannot be undone. If a removed contact sends you email again, they’ll be re-created as a new contact with a fresh history.
When in doubt, start with a longer time window and work your way down. You can always run the cleanup tool again with stricter criteria later.
