Declutter your Gmail Inbox with Python | by Alberta Odamea Anim-Ayeko | Jun, 2022

Utilizing ezgmail to automate the method of studying and deleting emails

Introduction

Having to manually delete emails one after one other within the gmail app is unquestionably not a superb use of your time, particularly when you possibly can automate the method. On this article, I’ll present you automate the method of deleting undesirable emails and marking emails as learn. This fashion you possibly can have a program do it for you, when you do an necessary activity or make amends for your favorite television present 😉.

It was solely moments in the past that I found the [ezgmail](https://pypi.org/mission/EZGmail/) python bundle created by [Al Sweigart](https://twitter.com/AlSweigart), and I believe its capabilities are fairly easy as in comparison with some others that I’ve seen earlier than.

Necessities

• A python model put in in your PC. When you don’t have python put in, observe the directions [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-MuSAwgwCU) to take action.
• An ide of your alternative. Jupyter pocket book, spyder, pycharm, and many others.
• The ezgmail bundle put in, which you are able to do by operating pip set up EZgmail in your terminal

Establishing your gmail developer account

You can not skip this step, in any other case the ezgmail bundle is not going to work. This half is sort of prolonged however completely price it whenever you get to the top.

pip set up --upgrade google-api-python-client google-auth-httplib2 google-auth-oauthlib

• On the left pane of the display, click on on APIs & Providers -> OAuth consent display as seen within the picture under:

• From the OAuth consent display proven, click on the exterior choice and click on create as seen within the display under:

• There’s an Edit app registration type that seems subsequent. Fill within the following fields:

— App Info

• App title = ezgmail
• Consumer help electronic mail = your individual gmail
• App brand could be ignored

— App area

• Ignore all fields right here as they aren’t obligatory

— Approved domains

— Developer contact info

• Enter your individual electronic mail right here

Click on save and proceed

Ignore the subsequent part, which is the concerning the scopes of your app.

Click on save and proceed

For the subsequent part, which is the Check Customers part, Click on on +Add Customers button and add your individual electronic mail tackle, click on add

Click on save and proceed

After that, you a supplied a abstract of all the info you supplied, if the whole lot seems to be okay, click on BACK TO DASHBOARD

Now, click on on the Credentials choice on the left a part of the display, and you may be proven the next:

Click on the+CREATE CREDENTIALS choice above, then select the OAuth Consumer ID choice. From the Software sort drop down, choose the Desktop App choice, you possibly can go away the title as it’s. Click on CREATE. The anticipated display is seen under:

There’s one other popup which seems after hitting the CREATE button which exhibits your credentials; Your Consumer ID and Consumer Secret. Be sure to not share these with anybody. Obtain these credentials by clicking the DOWNLOAD JSON button. Remember to rename the file as credentials.json and save within the ezgmail python folder you created at first.

Working with the ezgmail bundle

I strongly suggest that the next instructions are run in a terminal and never in your ide.

Transfer into your ezgmail python folder through the use of the cd.Run the next: python->Operating this allows you to begin writing python code within the terminal

import ezgmail->Upon operating this, a window is opened in your browser, asking you to selected the e-mail account you want to give entry, to your software. Select your personal electronic mail which you need to declutter. Then you’re met with one other web page telling you that the app isn’t verified and whether or not you need to proceed or not. Click on proceed

Click on proceed once more to make sure that you give ezgmail entry to your google account. There’s a web page which says: The authentication movement has accomplished. You’d additionally notice there’s a new file known as token.json in your ezgmail python folder after a profitable authentication.

If the import ezgmail step above doesn’t work, strive ezgmail.init()

Whew😅, you’re all set! Utilizing the capabilities launched under are as simple as ABC. Able to expertise the magic?

Marking emails as learn

The next codes can now be run in your ide and never within the terminal.

unreadThreads = ezgmail.unread(maxResults=300)
print(f’There are {len(unreadThreads)} unread emails in your account’)
for unread in unreadThreads:
print(ezgmail.abstract(unread), ‘n’)
unread.markAsRead()

It’s that easy! 😲Within the 1st line of the code snippet above, you possibly can change the maxResults argument to any variety of your alternative, because it controls the variety of unread emails returned. From there, the precise variety of unread emails in your inbox is returned and printed to your display. The 4th line returns a abstract of the physique of your unread emails, and within the final line, these emails are marked as learn by this system.

Deleting emails

For electronic mail deletion, you have to be very positive, earlier than you proceed. The next code lets you do the deletion.

• Deleting emails by wanting up (a) key phrase(s)

key phrases = [‘LinkedIn’, ‘Cesium Forum’, 'ASOS']
for key phrase in key phrases: 
threads = ezgmail.search(key phrase, maxResults=300)
print(f’There are {len(threads)} emails with the key phrase,     {key phrase}’)
ezgmail.abstract(threads) #You'll be able to test a abstract simply to be sure to’re not deleting something necessary
for i in vary(len(threads)):
if len(threads)==0:
print(‘No ’{key phrase}’ messages to delete, transferring on to the subsequent’)
else:
threads[i].trash()

The record of key phrases above must be changed by these of curiosity to you, and they are often as many phrases as you’d like. Iterating by means of the key phrases record with a for loop, ezgmail searches for every of the your emails that comprise these specific key phrases, and returns them. And for every of the key phrase threads, the variety of emails current are counted, earlier than they’re lastly deleted.

Don’t panic if you happen to notice you have got deleted one thing necessary, you could find deleted emails within the bin of the gmail app.

threads = ezgmail.current(maxResults=20)
print(f’There are {len(threads)} current emails in your inbox’)
ezgmail.abstract(threads) #You'll be able to test a abstract simply to be sure to’re not deleting something necessary
for i in vary(len(threads)):
if len(threads)==0:
print(‘No current emails')
else:
threads[i].trash()

Having launched the current perform and the key phrase idea, it can be used to mark emails as learn, if you happen to suppose that may be a safer choice.

Parting ideas

There are different ezgmail capabilities you possibly can play with like re (used for normal expressions), which might help you search for particular patterns in emails earlier than continuing to mark as learn or delete. It’s price exploring. I hope after going by means of this text, you undertake a few of these methods of cleansing out your inbox. Thanks for studying! 👋🏾