If you ask someone why they delete emails, they will most likely tell you that they delete emails because they want to keep their email organized and reduce clutter. White this is a valid reason for deleting emails, it is not the real reason why we delete them.
The original reason that we were given the option to delete emails is simple. We did not have enough space to keep them. If you wanted to be able to receive new emails, you had to make space for them by deleting your old emails or your mailbox would be full.
Guess what? It’s 2011. Having enough space to hold all of our emails is no longer an issue. Gmail alone allows its users over 7GBs of space before their email is full. That is enough room for two, full length, 720P movies. If you plan on using your email account as a storage space for movies, then you may run into space issues. If you use your email like most of us do, to store text-based messages along with some small attachments , you will have to work very hard to fill your email account.
Up until recently, however, we were still faced the problem of organizing our email. In order to move things out of our inbox we needed to delete them. Email continued to evolve and the idea of folders was introduced. This feature allowed us to save important emails in specific locations for use later.
But what about all those emails that don’t fall into a specific category?
Until recently, those were the emails that we felt pressured to delete. This is where the concept of message archiving comes into play. In Gmail specifically, users have the option to archive their messages. This feature removes emails from the user’s inbox but holds them in the all mail folder.
Now, even emails that we might not need to use again, can be archived. You may think that you’ll never need to view a particular email again but, if 6 months later you decide that you do need to view that email, you have the ability to do so. If you really don’t ever need to view it again then you don’t have to, but the option is still there.
I don’t think the option of deleting emails will ever completely disappear. It is still nice to delete spam messages when they come in and some people like to delete messages that contain sensitive information. I personally think that sensitive information should not be sent using public email accounts but that is a completely different topic.
We all know that it is very annoying to go searching for an email and then come to the realization that you deleted it a year ago. That being said, next time you’re about to delete an email, think twice and ponder the idea of archiving it instead. It will surely make your life a lot easier in certain situations.
I love to hear feedback from my readers.
Leave a comment below explaining the reasons why you still delete emails!
If you’re a Gmail user you may want to check out my article, “5 Quick Tips for Using Gmail More Effectively“.
