Bulk Actions

Learn how to archive, delete, or recategorize many emails at once.

What are Bulk Actions?

Bulk actions let you perform the same operation on multiple emails simultaneously:

• Archive - Remove from inbox (still searchable)
• Mark as Spam - Block sender, remove from inbox
• Delete - Permanently remove emails
• Recategorize - Move to different category

Perfect for:

• Cleaning up old newsletters
• Archiving processed emails
• Deleting spam
• Fixing miscategorized batches

Keyboard Navigation and Selection

InboxZebra uses a focus and selection model, where focus and selection are two independent concepts. Understanding the difference makes it easy to navigate and act on emails entirely from the keyboard.

Focus vs Selection

Key distinction: Moving focus with arrow keys does not change your selection. You can freely browse through your email list without accidentally losing a carefully built selection.

Keyboard Navigation Shortcuts

Typical workflow:

1. Press ↓ to move focus to the first email you want
2. Press Space to select it
3. Press ↓ to move focus to the next candidate
4. Press Space again to add it to the selection
5. Use the Actions menu in the toolbar to perform a bulk action on all selected emails

Range selection from the keyboard:

1. Move focus to the start of the range with ↑ / ↓
2. Hold Shift and press ↓ repeatedly to extend the selection downward (or Shift+↑ to extend upward)
3. Every email the focus passes through is added to the selection

Mouse Selection

Mouse clicks and keyboard selection work together. You can start a selection with the mouse and extend it with the keyboard, or vice versa.

Single-Email Shortcuts

When exactly one email is selected, the following quick-action shortcuts are available:

These shortcuts only apply when a single email is selected. With multiple emails selected, use the Actions menu in the toolbar for bulk actions instead.

Archive Emails

What is Archiving?

Archiving removes emails from your inbox but keeps them searchable:

Office 365:

• Moves email to Archive folder
• Still searchable in Outlook
• Appears in “All Items” but not “Inbox”

Gmail:

• Removes “INBOX” label
• Email stays in “All Mail”
• Still searchable, just not in inbox

How to Archive

1. Select emails using checkboxes
2. Right-click on selection → “Archive”
3. Confirm the action
4. Emails disappear from InboxZebra and your inbox

Or use:

• Right-click a category → “Archive All in This Category”
• Archives all emails in that category at once

When to Archive

Good for:

• Old newsletters you’ve read
• Processed notifications
• Emails you might need to reference later
• Keeping inbox at zero

Not for:

• Emails you need to take action on
• Recent important emails
• Spam (mark as spam instead)

Mark as Spam

What it Does

Marking as spam:

• Moves email to Junk/Spam folder
• Blocks sender (future emails go to spam automatically)
• Removes from inbox and InboxZebra

How to Mark as Spam

1. Select spam emails with checkboxes
2. Right-click → “Mark as Spam”
3. Confirm
4. Emails moved to spam folder

Tip: Your email provider learns from this and blocks similar emails.

When to Use

Mark as spam when:

• Phishing attempts
• Unwanted promotional emails
• Emails that won’t unsubscribe
• Suspicious senders

Don’t mark as spam:

• Legitimate newsletters (unsubscribe instead)
• Emails you signed up for (unsubscribe)
• Work emails you don’t like (not spam!)

Delete Emails

Permanent Deletion

Deleting removes emails permanently (or moves to Trash):

Office 365:

• Moves to Deleted Items
• Permanently deleted after 30 days
• Can recover from Deleted Items folder

Gmail:

• Moves to Trash
• Permanently deleted after 30 days
• Can recover from Trash

How to Delete

1. Select emails to delete
2. Right-click → “Delete”
3. Confirm deletion (important!)
4. Emails removed permanently

Warning: This cannot be easily undone. Use archive if you’re unsure!

When to Delete

Good for:

• Obvious spam
• Old promotional emails
• Duplicate emails
• Newsletters you’re unsubscribed from

Think twice:

• ⚠️ Work emails (might need later)
• ⚠️ Receipts (for taxes or returns)
• ⚠️ Important conversations

Recategorize Emails

Moving to Different Category

If emails were miscategorized, fix them in bulk:

1. Select emails that are in wrong category
2. Right-click → “Move to Category”
3. Choose correct category
4. Emails move and InboxZebra learns from your correction

Or:

• Right-click a category → “Recategorize All”
• Shows all emails in that category
• Bulk move to correct category

Learning from Corrections

When you recategorize emails, InboxZebra learns:

• Your correction is stored as a high-priority example
• Future similar emails go to the correct category
• Accuracy improves over time

Example:

• Move emails from client at acme.com from “Personal” → “Client Projects”
• Next time, similar emails from acme.com go to Client Projects automatically
• Or move investor emails from “Spam” → “Investor Relations”

Bulk Actions Safety

Confirmation Dialogs

InboxZebra always asks before bulk actions:

Archiving 50 emails:

“Are you sure you want to archive 50 emails?”
[Cancel] [Archive]

Deleting 10 emails:

“Are you sure you want to delete 10 emails? This cannot be undone.”
[Cancel] [Delete]

Undo Operations

Unfortunately, bulk actions cannot be undone in InboxZebra.

To recover:

• Archived emails: Check Deleted Items (Outlook) or All Mail (Gmail)
• Deleted emails: Check Trash folder (recoverable for 30 days)
• Spam: Check Junk/Spam folder

Prevention: Always review your selection before confirming!

Best Practices

Clean Up Workflow

Weekly cleanup:

1. Process last 7 days of email
2. Review Client Projects → Archive completed threads
3. Review Notifications → Archive old platform alerts
4. Review Financial → Verify payment confirmations, archive old ones
5. Keep inbox focused on active clients, investors, and urgent tasks

Safe Bulk Operations

Before bulk delete:

• Double-check your selection
• Make sure it’s really the right emails
• Consider archive instead of delete
• Export a backup if dealing with thousands

Progressive Cleaning

Don’t rush:

• Start with obvious candidates (old spam, newsletters)
• Review uncertain emails individually
• Build confidence in categories before bulk actions
• Let AI learn for a week before major cleanup

Examples

Example 1: Archive Completed Client Projects

1. Select category: Client Projects
2. Filter by label: “Completed”
3. Select all from completed projects over 3 months ago
4. Archive (keeps them searchable if you need references)

Example 2: Clean Up Old Payment Notifications

1. Select category: Financial
2. Sort by date (oldest first)
3. Select all payment confirmations from Stripe/PayPal over 6 months old
4. Archive (or delete if you don’t need them for taxes)

Example 3: Fix Miscategorized Investor Emails

1. Notice 15 investor emails accidentally in “Spam”
2. Select all those investor emails
3. Right-click → Move to Category → Investor Relations
4. InboxZebra learns similar investor emails belong there

Keyboard Shortcuts Quick Reference

Navigation:

• ↑ / ↓ — Move focus up/down (does not change selection)
• Return / Enter — Open focused email details

Selection:

• Space — Toggle selection of focused email
• Shift+↑ / Shift+↓ — Extend selection range from focus
• ⌘A — Select all / Deselect all (toggle)
• ⌘D or Esc — Deselect all

Mouse selection:

• Click — Select single email
• ⌘+Click — Toggle individual email in selection
• Shift+Click — Select range

Single-email actions (1 email selected):

• E — Archive
• L — Edit labels
• R — Toggle read/unread

Next Steps

• Search & Filtering - Find specific emails
• Categories - Organize with categories