Top tips: 3 ways to tidy up your email inbox

Top tips is a weekly column where we highlight what’s trending in the tech world today and list ways to explore these trends. This week, we're taking a look at how a cleaner email inbox can help make your work life more organized and productive.

If you're anything like me, your personal mailbox is a dumpster fire—clutter, ancient correspondence I'm never going to revisit, and tons and tons of spam. Having a disorganized personal mailbox is one thing, but when your professional mailbox is a complete and utter mess, you've got a real problem on your hands.

A cluttered professional inbox isn't just an eyesore—constantly sifting through unsorted emails wastes time and risks burying important messages. The good news? Tidying up your mailbox is one of those things that doesn't take a huge amount of effort but can make your professional life a lot easier. Here are three ways you can do just that:

1. Filters and folders are your best friends

You're probably part of multiple email groups at work, which means your inbox is likely flooded with messages that aren't always relevant to you. Over time, these emails pile up and make it harder to spot the messages that actually require your attention.

Creating filters that automatically sort incoming emails into dedicated folders can make a huge difference. You can organize emails based on who sent them, whether they were addressed directly to you, or which mailing list they came from.

For example, you could keep emails addressed specifically to you in your primary inbox while automatically sorting mailing list emails into separate folders for each department, project, or team. This not only keeps your inbox cleaner but also makes prioritizing emails much easier.

2. Don't forget to unsubscribe from unwanted mailing lists

You may have come across a genuinely helpful website with a wealth of valuable resources. The catch? You had to sign in to access said resources. Some websites are sneaky, and if you're not eagle-eyed, you may end up subscribing to their newsletter or mailing list, meaning they will send you notifications directly to your inbox. While some notifications are certainly helpful, you don't need these taking up space in your inbox.

Now, these emails usually include an unsubscribe button, so you could do this manually, but depending on how many promotional emails you have, it could take a long time. You could also use a tool like Leave Me Alone, which enables you to mass unsubscribe from these mailing lists, or you could simply create a filter that automatically deletes any email that contains the word "unsubscribe."

3. Don't be a hoarder

Delete your old emails. You probably don't need those forgotten email threads from two years ago or thousands of irrelevant promotional messages clogging up your inbox.

That said, if an old email contains important information, archive it instead of leaving it sitting in your primary inbox. Archiving removes clutter while still allowing you to access those emails whenever you need them.

For emails, files, or media you don't want to keep in your mailbox at all, backing them up to cloud storage or an external drive is another great option.

Rid yourself of the clutter

Why hold on to unnecessary inbox clutter when there are so many tools available to help you stay organized? While a clean inbox won't magically turn you into a productivity machine, it will save you time, reduce distractions, and make it easier to stay on top of important correspondence—and really, why say no to being organized?