How long do you keep your emails?

Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
This subject comes up every now and then, and people always seem surprised when I can pull up things in my email from years ago. I never delete anything I think I might need. With all the space that you can get from your email hosts these days and the ability to organize and file your emails, there's almost no point in deleting them, at least to me. So I know where I stand on this, and I know where a few of my friends stand on this, but I'm wondering where all of you stand on this. How long do you keep your emails around?
Answers (public voting - your screen name will appear in the results):
I delete all emails right away
I delete things like notifications from Facebook, review comments, etc
Jul!a , *HisMrs* , Kindred , Starkiller87 , OroNomi , El-Jaro , Rossie , Ryuson , Beck , Kitka , wrmbreze , Rarity , Ms. N , sexydelphia , JackRaiden , Ghost , T&A1987 , bmweida , Misfit Momma , Kaltir , dv8 , Peggi , switzerland , SexyTabby , slynch , GravyCakes , ThoughtsAblaze , Adriana Ravenlust , Moein , Gunsmoke , darthkitt3n , TheSlyFox , married with children , eeep , SiNn , Missmarc , bratcat , inkky , kkybf , Voir
40
I delete advertisements and things of that nature
Jul!a , *HisMrs* , Kindred , Starkiller87 , - Kira - , PassionateLover2 , OroNomi , El-Jaro , Rossie , Ryuson , Beck , Kitka , wrmbreze , Ms. N , sexydelphia , JackRaiden , Ghost , deletedacct , bmweida , Sammi , Misfit Momma , Kaltir , Peggi , switzerland , SexyTabby , slynch , GravyCakes , ThoughtsAblaze , Adriana Ravenlust , Moein , Gunsmoke , Love Perpetua , darthkitt3n , TheSlyFox , married with children , eeep , SiNn , bratcat , inkky , Voir
40
I make a point to save important emails, like shipping notifications and other information, but delete them after my package (or whatever) has arrived
*HisMrs* , Kindred , Starkiller87 , PassionateLover2 , El-Jaro , Rossie , Ryuson , Beck , Kitka , wrmbreze , Ms. N , JackRaiden , Ghost , deletedacct , bmweida , Misfit Momma , Kaltir , Peggi , switzerland , SexyTabby , KC Kitten , slynch , GravyCakes , Adriana Ravenlust , Moein , Gunsmoke , darthkitt3n , TheSlyFox , married with children , eeep , SiNn , Allstars316 , bratcat , inkky , Voir
35
I never delete any emails
Why , mizzmilla , Jon S , GenderSexplorations , A Closet Slut (aka nipplepeople) , Bubba29 , null
7
I delete the things I do because...
Ryuson , Beck , Kitka , wrmbreze , Misfit Momma , Kaltir , Peggi , SexyTabby , KC Kitten , GravyCakes , ThoughtsAblaze , Adriana Ravenlust , TheSlyFox , married with children , eeep , SiNn
16
I hate seeing anything in my inbox. If it's there, it means I have to follow up
Ghost , Kaltir , Adriana Ravenlust
3
I don't need notifications cluttering my inbox
Jul!a , *HisMrs* , Kindred , Starkiller87 , - Kira - , El-Jaro , Rossie , Ryuson , Beck , Kitka , wrmbreze , JackRaiden , Ghost , Kaltir , Peggi , SexyTabby , KC Kitten , GravyCakes , Adriana Ravenlust , darthkitt3n , TheSlyFox , married with children , eeep , SiNn , bratcat , inkky
26
Once my package arrives, I no longer need that information
*HisMrs* , Kindred , El-Jaro , Rossie , Ryuson , Kitka , wrmbreze , Ghost , Kaltir , Peggi , SexyTabby , GravyCakes , Adriana Ravenlust , darthkitt3n , TheSlyFox , married with children , eeep , SiNn , bratcat , inkky
20
Other...
Misfit Momma , null
2
I do make a point to save some emails, like...
El-Jaro , Rossie , Ryuson , Beck , wrmbreze , Rarity , Ms. N , Misfit Momma , Kaltir , dv8 , Peggi , SexyTabby , slynch , GravyCakes , Adriana Ravenlust , TheSlyFox , married with children , eeep , SiNn , Allstars316 , bratcat , inkky
22
Anything with an invoice number
Jul!a , *HisMrs* , - Kira - , PassionateLover2 , OroNomi , El-Jaro , Ryuson , Beck , wrmbreze , Rarity , Ms. N , Misfit Momma , Kaltir , dv8 , switzerland , SexyTabby , slynch , TheSlyFox , married with children , eeep , SiNn , Allstars316 , bratcat
23
Recipes, directions, etc
Jul!a , *HisMrs* , PassionateLover2 , OroNomi , El-Jaro , Ryuson , wrmbreze , Rarity , Ms. N , Misfit Momma , Kaltir , Peggi , switzerland , SexyTabby , GravyCakes , Adriana Ravenlust , TheSlyFox , married with children , eeep , SiNn , Allstars316 , bratcat , inkky
23
Other
Ryuson , Ms. N , Misfit Momma , dv8 , Peggi , slynch , Allstars316
7
I don't have email, but I wanted a point anyway
General other, to cover anything I may not have listed
Rarity
1
Total votes: 265 (54 voters)
Poll is closed
12/01/2011
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Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
I try to hold onto anything I may need in the future, and only really delete things that are legitimate clutter. Like, notifications from Facebook I really don't ever see needing in the future, so I delete those. I delete comment notifications after I open the review. I do try to save anything with an invoice number, especially if it's something I may have problems with. Like, I bought some weather stripping in 2008. It failed shortly after I got it, but I'm only now getting around to trying to make the exchange after confirming back then that I could. I have all the emails from then, and was able to find original invoice numbers in under a minute.
12/01/2011
Contributor: Starkiller87 Starkiller87
I try to clean my inbox every year at least. If I dont it gets crazy. I have quite a few different email addresses. I save different emails in different ones. I keep a lot of my invoices and stuff from eden. I keep track of my wins in another. I keep emails from people. I have emails in some acts all the way from 5 to 8 years ago. Its a problem.
12/01/2011
Contributor: - Kira - - Kira -
I delete junk mail ads. That's about it. I keep notifications from Facebook and Eden. I keep ads from my makeup websites and eBay and such. I only delete from sites I never go to that somehow got my address or that I used to go to but don't anymore. Too lazy to unsubscribe.

I don't delete anything because 1) I'm lazy and 2) I'm a hoarder with stuff like that. Before email, I hoarded mailers. I don't know why. I just like to have that info. I still have paper mail from five years ago on every account I've ever had, even if it was junk. Never know what you might need.

I'm especially hoarder-y with invoices, statements, bills, and things of that nature. I have a separate email dedicated to things like that so they don't get lost in my regular email clutter.
12/01/2011
Contributor: Jul!a Jul!a
I just went and checked my personal email account. I am using 11% of my storage with 4,866 emails in my inbox, dating back to 5/13/05.
12/01/2011
Contributor: Why Why
I never delete anything. If I get an ad I mark it as spam or unsubscribe if it's my fault. I leave the ad in there so that I know that I already tried to get rid of it once.

I use filters for things like Facebook and Amazon so that my inbox only gets the really important stuff.
12/01/2011
Contributor: El-Jaro El-Jaro
I've got about 2k emails going back to 06 or so. I totally need to clean out some of the crap emails.
12/01/2011
Contributor: Kitka Kitka
I delete anything I don't currently need but if i order something I make sure to keep that email until the package arrives.
12/01/2011
Contributor: Rarity Rarity
Quote:
Originally posted by - Kira -
I delete junk mail ads. That's about it. I keep notifications from Facebook and Eden. I keep ads from my makeup websites and eBay and such. I only delete from sites I never go to that somehow got my address or that I used to go to but don't ... more
I believe this explains my behaviour accurately as well! I keep most all my e-mail. As of currently, I have 6.8k e-mails that are unread. This includes things like newsletters from shops and organizations but I can't seem to bring myself to delete them as they come along.

This is partly why I created a new e-mail account. One is for everything, and the other is for more important things!
12/01/2011
Contributor: Ms. N Ms. N
Like you say, servers allow so much room now that deleting is not really necessary. I do delete "junk mail" like advertising. But I keep a lot of stuff. Mostly, I keep conversations with friends. I have over 18,000 emails of conversation with my SO going back to the beginning of our relationship (about 7 years' worth).
12/01/2011
Contributor: sexydelphia sexydelphia
i try to delete anything that i know i will not need in the future just so i dont have thousands of emails i dont need in my inbox
12/01/2011
Contributor: T&A1987 T&A1987
I have 7000 unread e-mails in my primary folder.
12/01/2011
Contributor: Sammi Sammi
I delete spam, but I have emails going back to...well, a very long time ago
12/01/2011
Contributor: Chirple Chirple
I tend to let it just pile up and pile up and pile up.

But I'm trying to actually "unsubscribe" to things now so they don't get in the way of things I actually need to read, like things I signed up for a long time ago and no longer care about.
12/01/2011
Contributor: switzerland switzerland
i definitely keep the important ones.. if i ever need to reference back to them. other than that, i periodically clean out my multiple inboxes
12/01/2011
Contributor: dv8 dv8
My inbox is always clear. I download my email instead of use a web-based mail-reader. Most messages automatically get saved to appropriate folders.
12/01/2011
Contributor: SexyTabby SexyTabby
I've had one of my email accounts since 2001 so...there's some old ish in there but I can't say I ever look at it. I keep what I think could ever be important but...yeah some of the folders I've just zapped like two months ago. I never keep spam or junk but a simple converstaion with someone who I think I may need to keep well...I got a lot of them.
12/01/2011
Contributor: KC Kitten KC Kitten
I delete almost everything
12/01/2011
Contributor: GravyCakes GravyCakes
i delete most things at some point or another.
12/01/2011
Contributor: ThoughtsAblaze ThoughtsAblaze
I just don't delete anything until I run out of space in my inbox. I've never been one to keep an empty inbox.
12/01/2011
Contributor: mizzmilla mizzmilla
I rarely delete e-mails
12/01/2011
Contributor: Adriana Ravenlust Adriana Ravenlust
I delete all the time. As a Thunderbird user, I should try to keep my inboxes as empty as possibly to reduce the possibility of corruption/failure so I save important things with passwords and such in folders. For example, the email I use for sex toy reviewing has a folder for reviewing and one for advertising correspondence.

There's absolutely NO point to keeping facebook alerts and such. I mean, why would you do that? Clutter.. really drives me nuts.
12/02/2011
Contributor: Love Perpetua Love Perpetua
I rarely delete emails, usually just archive things to keep my inbox clear.
12/02/2011
Contributor: TheSlyFox TheSlyFox
I delete notifications, Ads from companies that i am signed up to, emails from friends after a week, ect, but i save my regestration files, and some of my other emails.
12/02/2011
Contributor: married with children married with children
I only keep the important emails. everything else goes. I hate clutter.
12/03/2011
Contributor: Pink Jewel Pink Jewel
I delete everything I do not need.
12/03/2011
Contributor: GenderSexplorations GenderSexplorations
I don't delete emails. I neatly organize everything into folders.
12/03/2011
Contributor: eeep eeep
I recently started to become more organized with my inbox (still a work in progress), and have been sorting things into various folders. I usually delete most notifications, or follow-up on them right away before deleting them. Mostly I just save confirmation e-mails until things have arrived, and recipes and such.
12/03/2011
Contributor: SiNn SiNn
Quote:
Originally posted by Jul!a
This subject comes up every now and then, and people always seem surprised when I can pull up things in my email from years ago. I never delete anything I think I might need. With all the space that you can get from your email hosts these days and ... more
I have file folders in my email for emails i hae soem for waiting for packages some for follow up messages on eden or book reviews the pics of my family ect ect
12/03/2011
Contributor: Bubba29 Bubba29
i don't delete a thing. to me it's free storage and i never know when i may need to dig something up. i am an email "HOARDER".
01/30/2013