Clear Mail for Gmail

Google is testing a new policy where new Gmail accounts in select regions are capped at just 5 GB of free storage - a two-thirds cut from the 15 GB users have had for years. To unlock the full 15 GB, you now need to verify using your phone number.

I've written a full breakdown of the story - including Google's official statement, the privacy implications, who's affected right now, and other details - on my blog here.

Right now it's only new accounts in select regions. But here's what worries me - and probably should worry you too: nothing in the rollout rules out existing accounts without a linked phone number being affected next. Google has done quiet regional tests like this before, and they usually go global.

Let's put 5 GB in perspective. Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Photos all share that same pool. A few months of email threads with attachments, a handful of phone backups, some scanned documents - and you're at the wall. At that point, Google gives you two options: pay for Google One, or watch your account slowly become unusable as you stop receiving new emails.

Gmail has 1.8 billion users. This isn't a niche problem.

This is exactly why I built Clear Mail. It helps you declutter your Gmail inbox before you hit that storage ceiling - without the tedious scrambling through emails one by one.

It groups your emails by sender, so you can immediately see who's hogging your inbox, and lets you bulk-delete everything from a specific sender in a few clicks. It's designed to be fast and privacy-first.

If the 5 GB cap does eventually hit existing accounts, the users who have been managing their inbox proactively will be the ones who don't have to scramble. That's what Clear Mail is for.

Curious - do you think Google will eventually roll this out to existing accounts too? And how are you managing Gmail storage for yourself?

A long time ago, I happened to check my Gmail Updates tab and found a reminder for an Income tax notice. This was like the 3rd or 4th reminder for a tax notice that I had missed. I totally panicked. The reason for the miss? All these emails were landing in my Updates tab, and since my Updates tab was so full of junk, I had stopped checking it. And hence, a very important email (the notice) had slipped through.

It wasn't the first time. I've also missed a crypto token delisting alert from my crypto exchange (the price crashed soon, and I lost money on that token). Two real consequences — one stressful, one costly — both caused by the same blind spot.

That's the trap Gmail's tab system creates — a false sense of control. Your inbox looks organized. Meanwhile, entire categories of emails quietly stop getting read.

I built Clear Mail specifically because of this pattern. Clear Mail works by scanning your tabs and helping you cut through the junk — so the emails that actually matter are easier to spot. Less clutter, better visibility, no costly misses.

I wrote about this problem in depth here: Missing Emails in Gmail? It's Your Tabs — And It's Costing You More Than You Think.

It goes deeper into the real-life stories and gives you practical tips to prevent this from happening to you.

Do you have a "missed because of a tab" story of your own? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

I’m building Clear Mail, a Chrome extension that helps users declutter their Gmail inbox in a privacy-first manner. I built this app to scratch my own itch, as I always struggled with a cluttered Gmail inbox and sometimes missed important emails within my Gmail tabs. I am sharing my journey as I grow it.

Clear Mail has been consistently growing, but very little of that is coming from Google (I currently get ~30-40 organic visits/month). The biggest source of traffic and installs is obviously the Chrome Web Store. Other traffic sources include word of mouth and communities like Indie Hackers, apart from Google itself.

That's great for now, but it's not a foundation I can build on long-term. I have been wanting to invest in SEO and content for quite some time now, and I have finally taken the plunge.

So, I've decided to run an experiment: can consistent, well-written blog content actually move the needle on organic traffic from Google — and eventually revenue — for a small SaaS like mine?

I don't have a content team. I don't have an SEO agency. Just me, writing about things that are genuinely relevant to my users.

My first post is up. It talks about how other Email cleaning apps cause friction and discomfort in users because they use OAuth and ask for intrusive permissions to their Gmail inbox. It further talks about how Clear Mail solves the exact same problem. Here's my post link:

→ The Easiest Way to Clean Up Your Gmail Inbox (Without Giving Away Account Access)

I'll be sharing updates here as this experiment progresses — what's working, what's not, and whether blogging actually converts to traffic and installs over time.

If you have faced a similar situation, trying to figure out a content strategy that doesn't require a big budget — I'd love to compare notes. What worked for you? What didn't?

Just hit 100 weekly active users 🚀

I launched Clear Mail for Gmail (a Chrome extension) on 6th February 2025 to help people clean their Gmail inboxes in a privacy-first way. No OAuth tokens needed, no sharing of any user email data, only local processing and 100% privacy.

You can read more about Clear Mail on my Indie Hackers introduction post

I decided to build this tool because:

• I was personally frustrated with messy inboxes

• I wanted to build a unique product that works in 100% private manner, no fluff, no nonsense

• I wanted to build, launch, grow the product and learn as I go

Fast forward to today (2 months later), and we’ve crossed 100 weekly active users. 100 WAU is not huge — but 100 real people are using this every week, and that feels amazing. ❤️

A few things I’ve learned so far:

• Keep it simple — users love simplicity, clean UI and clear purpose

• Respect privacy — Emails are private communication and people do appreciate privacy

• Marketing is important - I have been posting/launching my app on various Startup directories (done 30+ till now) and have seen user growth. The best one was Betalist which brought me a nice spike in traffic.

• Launching on Chrome Webstore helps - CWS, being a Google product helps ranking on Google and is great for SEO.

Next goals:

• Hit 1000 WAUs in the next 6 months

• Add more features, making it more valuable for my users

• Continue marketing my product - focus on listing on more startup directories, explore Reddit for promoting, invest more on SEO etc.

Thanks for reading, and to everyone who’s also in the early stages: celebrate the small wins. They keep you going. 🙌

Clear Mail for Gmail: A Privacy-First Solution for Cleaning Your Emails!

Hey Indie Hackers! 👋

I’m excited to share my first launch with you all. After months of development, I’ve just launched a Chrome extension that helps you clean up your Gmail inbox in a privacy-first manner.

Problem

When I look at email cleaning solutions, they ask you for permissions (through an OAuth token) to read and delete your email. With this token, you are giving away the keys to all your private emails. This token gets stored on the 3rd party server where:

1. Internal bad actors (such as employees of 3rd party solution provider) can potentially access your emails

2. Surveillance agencies could spy on your private emails

3. Hackers could hack the 3rd party server and gain access to your emails

Solution

I built this Chrome extension for cleaning emails that works completely on your local system. None of your email data gets uploaded to our servers. No signup required, no OAuth required.

Apart from complete privacy, some other features include:

✅ Works directly in your Gmail tab, no need to install a desktop app or go to another browser tab for managing your emails

✅ Manage your emails through the intuitive concept of Mail Filters

✅ Get a handy report on your emails. Clean them up, move similar emails to a different label or simply organize and read similar emails at one place. It is all up to you!

Clear Mail for Gmail is in beta and I would love your feedback! 🎯

Here's the link: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/clear-mail-for-gmail-priv/mjdjakmpongidgdifgmaenfgmacppknm

Thanks for reading, and I hope you find the extension helpful!