How to mass delete messages in Inbox

[jschery]

Hi Everyone! I have looked on many of the forums on this website and trying to figure out how to mass delete messages in the Canvas inbox. I have tried clicking on the first message and then holding shift and clicking on the last message but it does not work to highlight all messages. I have also tried doing CTRL+A in order to highlight all messages but that does not work as well. Please help I would appreciate any assistance. 

[Chris_Hofer · Accepted solution]

Hi @jschery ...

Interesting.  I tried both of those methods to select messages in my Canvas Inbox, and they both worked for me (I am on a Windows 11 laptop).  Not sure why it would not work for you.  Have you tried reaching out to the Canvas Help Desk staff to see if they might be able to provide some additional assistance?

How do I contact Canvas Support? - Instructure Community

[jschery]

How do you contact Canvas Help Desk staff to see if they might be able to provide some additional assistance?

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi again, @jschery ...

I provided you a link in my previous reply...which was: How do I contact Canvas Support? - Instructure Community

I wasn't sure if you were a student or an instructor, so the link I gave you includes additional links for both instructors and students.  If you are using your PC / laptop, you can use one of the links under the heading "Canvas Web".  Or, if you are using one of the Canvas mobile apps, you can use one of the links under "Canvas Mobile Apps".

Hope this helps.

[BenJam1n]

Go to the first message you want Archived or deleted and tick the box. 

Now scroll down to the last message you want to archive or delete and hold the Shift key down while clicking the last messages box.  Sometimes I have to click multiple times, but it does work for me.

This should highlight everything if the CTRL + A option is not working.  Once highlighted, select Archive or Delete. 

Personally, I archive them for the record even though they come to my EDU inbox.  This is because by EDU account has a shorter retention policy for emails. 

Cheers,

Ben

[stephanie_estes]

This really should be something to address easily.  Managing the inbox is not a detail we have been advised on as teachers, but I am now seeing that my inbox is full of messages sent since I have been using Canvas...for many years.  One thing I think that would be really helpful would be 1)  deleting messages associated with the course when the course is archived or deleted or 2) a "select all" option so that the tedious process of scrolling through all of the many emails screen by screen isn't necessary.  I have been working on this all morning...and still have not cleared my inbox. Sigh.

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi @stephanie_estes ...

Regarding your #2... have you tried scrolling down the list of your messages on the left side of your Canvas Inbox and then using the keyboard combo Ctrl + A ?  This is the keyboard shortcut for "select all".  This worked for me...it highlighted all my message in a light-blue color.  I could then delete them all at one time...if I wanted to do that.

[laurentlangevin]

Hurrah!! Many thanks. "Ctrl+A" worked.

[VilmaMesa]

thank you finally it worked for me! I had over 500 messages!

[marlakay_dandre]

In Windows:

1. Scroll down to the last message in your inbox.

2. Click on the blank space there.

3.  Hold down Control and A.  This highlights all messages.   Uncheck the messages you don't want to delete.

4.  Click on the Delete ( trash can) at the top of the screen.

5.  All messages then disappeared for me.

[bsclinebell]

This is the only thing that worked for me! Thank you!

[CPurdy74]

Try a different browser.  I was using Firefox; no luck.  I switched to Edge. Then the click-shift-last method (but not Ctrl-A) worked.