How to Delete Attachments in Gmail Without Losing Email?

Many users prefer to delete attachments from Gmail. Gmail attachments can be large and occupy unnecessary storage space. Deleting them helps free up and manage Google account storage space. 

You may want to remove attachments from Gmail to remove that annoying “Google Out of Storage” message, but that particular Gmail can be important to you. 

In this guide, we will discuss “How to delete attachments in Gmail” & how you can do so without losing the entire Gmail conversation. You will also learn why removing attachments in Gmail can be important sometimes and how you can do it hassle-free with an advanced Gmail Attachment Remover Software.  

Understanding How Gmail Handles Email Attachments

Before you learn “How to delete attachments in Gmail?” let us understand how attachments are stored in Gmail. Gmail stores the email message, attachment, and metadata under a single record in its database. 

You can not simply edit or remove only attachments in Gmail without breaking message integrity. If you are relying on just the manual ways, you will need to trash the Gmail email to delete attachments from Gmail. 

But there are walk-around methods that help you delete attached files in Gmail separately. In this guide, we will discuss multiple such ways. So let’s get started. 

Why Do People Delete Attachments in Gmail?

Over time, users find their Gmail inboxes filled with unwanted attachments such as PDFs, images, and old project data files, which may no longer be important. These files occupy and clutter the Gmail storage space. It will pile up over time if you do not delete attachments from Gmail. 

The most common reasons for removing attachments from Gmail are: 

• Organize Gmail mailboxes. 
• Free up storage space by deleting large Gmail attachments. 
• Helps improve Gmail performance & speed. 
• To reduce the backup size when downloading old Gmail for archival. 
• For security reasons, users delete sensitive attachment files in case the account gets hacked. 

How to Delete Attachments in Gmail Manually? 

Many users prefer using the built-in tools and filters offered by Gmail to delete large attachments in Gmail for privacy reasons. Even manually, you can bulk delete email attachments in Gmail. 

Gmail search operators, has:attachment and larger:10M are extremely useful for removing large Gmail attachments in bulk. 

Steps to Manually Delete Attachments in Gmail

1. Open the Gmail app, or access Gmail through your web browser.
2. In the search bar at the top. Enter has:attachment. This will help display all the Gmail emails with attachments. 
3. You can filter large attachments in Gmail by using larger:10M. Here ’10’ represents the size in MB
4. If you want to bulk delete Gmail attachments. Click the checkbox next to “Select All” 
5. Then click “Delete” 

Note: These deleted Gmail emails will land in the Trash folder for 30 days. To free up space instantly, you will need to manually empty the trash. 

How to Delete Attachments in Gmail Without Deleting Email? 

Many users ask, “How to delete only attachments in Gmail”? In cases where the Gmail message is still important, but the attachments are taking up too much space, they prefer to delete only email attachments in Gmail. 

Sadly, Gmail doesn’t offer a built-in tool to delete only attachments. But there are various workarounds that you can try. 

Method 1: Forward to Yourself

1. Navigate and open the Gmail message to delete attachments in Gmail. 
2. Click on the More icon (three dots). 
3. Choose Forward. 
4. Enter your Gmail ID in the ‘To’ field
5. Remove the attachment. 
6. Click on “Send”. 
7. You can now delete the original Gmail message. 

This way you can have a copy of an important Gmail message and only remove attachments from Gmail. This will also help you save a significant amount of space. 

Method 2: Download and Delete

This method is only useful if your goal is to free up space in Gmail. You can either save Gmail as EML or save Gmail as PDF locally on your device to get more cloud storage space. 

Using Gmail’s built-in “Download Message” and “Print Gmail Email” features does not store attachments, only the message. 

Once done, you can get rid of the Gmail email. Ensure to clear out the Trash folder too. This is another practical alternative if you were wondering, “How to delete attachments in Gmail?”

How to Remove Attachments in Gmail When Replying

Whether you are replying or forwarding a Gmail message with an attachment, Gmail automatically includes that attachment in response. You need to manually remove attachments in Gmail when forwarding. Follow these steps to delete attachments in Gmail when replying: 

1. Open the Gmail you need to reply to or Forward.
2. When composing the responses, look for the attachment.
3. Sometimes, to access the Gmail attachment in response, you may need to click the three horizontal dots, in case you are not able to access it. 
4. Select the attachment and then click on (X) or remove. 

Limitations of Manual Ways to Delete Attachments in Gmail

There are many manual ways users may choose to remove attachments from Gmail that are highly effective. But they are not foolproof ways. Some limitations of deleting Gmail Attachments manually: 

• Only Walkarounds. There is no built-in way to delete Gmail email attachments. 
• It can be extremely time-consuming to clear out attachments from a large Gmail mailbox. 
• Risk of data loss. The Gmail attachments any not be useful, but the Gmail message can be. 
• The alternative methods can be technically complex for beginners. 
• The Gmail attachment may still exist in other folders, like “All Mail,” even after manually deleting it once. 

Best Way to Delete Attachments From Gmail

The safest and easiest way to clean attachments from your Gmail emails is by using a Gmail Attachment Remover. It is a professional tool to remove only attachments in Gmail without any complex setup. The Email Backup Tool enables you to bulk delete attachments permanently with “Delete Settings” options. Using it, you can delete large attachments in Gmail based on file size. Download the tool today. Free trial version also available.

How to Remove Attachments in Gmail Using a Tool? 

1. Once installed, launch the tool on the PC.
   
   
2. Scroll down and select “Gmail” from the email source panel.
   
   
3. Enter your Gmail ID.
   
   
4. Click on “Sign-In with Google”.
5. Enter the Gmail password to log in. 
6. Select all the folders or Gmail emails from which you need to clear out Gmail attachments.
   
   
7. Choose “Delete Email Attachments” from the select saving option.
   
   
8. Go to “Filter Options” and sort Gmail attachments based on size, date range, and to & from.
   
   
9. Press the “Delete” button at the bottom.
   
   

Benefits of Gmail Attachment Remover

Conveniently delete Gmail attachments in just minutes with Gmail Attachment Remover:

• Permanently delete Gmail attachments from multiple folders in bulk. 
• The tool has a user-friendly interface and does not require any technical skills or setup to use.
• Ensures 100% Data security as it uses Google OAuth to connect and operates locally.
• Offers to selectively delete large attachments by size.
• You can also extract Gmail attachments to backup locally before deleting.
• Compatible with both Mac and Windows. 

Conclusion

Learning how to delete attachments in Gmail is crucial for organizing your Gmail space. It helps you free up your space and provide better performance. There are manual ways to bulk clear large email attachments in bulk using Gmail search operators. And practical alternatives, like forwarding to yourself and downloading & deleting, are helpful but not 100% effective. Which is using an advanced tool like Gmail Attachment Remover is the best way to clear attachments in Gmail. However, if you need further guidance for this, reach out to our technical support team using the “Live Chat” section below. Our support team will be happy to help you 24X7.