Help & support

Install and pin Unpile

Unpile works in Google Chrome on a computer.

1. Open Unpile’s page on the Chrome Web Store, click Add to Chrome, then confirm.
2. A welcome page opens and walks you through the next steps.
3. To keep Unpile at hand, click the puzzle-piece icon (Extensions) at the top right of Chrome, then the pin next to Unpile. Its icon now stays in the toolbar.

Open the side panel

Click the Unpile icon in Chrome’s toolbar: the panel opens on the side of the window, next to the page you are viewing, so you can keep Gmail open alongside. To close it, use the close button at the top of the panel; a clean-up in progress keeps running.

If nothing happens, make sure Chrome is up to date (menu ⋮ › Help › About Google Chrome): the side panel needs a recent version of Chrome.

Connect your Google account

Click Connect my Google account in the panel, choose your account and accept Google’s permission screen.

“Sign-in cancelled.”

Google’s window was closed, or “Cancel” was clicked, before the end. Click Connect my Google account again and pick your account.

“Access to Gmail was not granted.”

On Google’s permission screen, the Gmail access box must be ticked: without it, Unpile can’t find or sort your emails. Click Connect my Google account again and, on Google’s screen, tick the box for Gmail before continuing.

Google describes this permission broadly (reading, composing, sending and permanently deleting email) because it is the only one that allows permanent deletion. Unpile never composes or sends email, and your data stays in your browser. Details in the privacy policy.

“Your Google session expired.”

Google access expires regularly for security. Sign in again from the panel; if a clean-up was interrupted, click Resume to finish it.

Work or school account

If Google says that your organization blocks access, your Google Workspace administrator has to allow Unpile.

Nothing found

If the panel says “Nothing to clean up here”:

• Emails already in the trash or in spam aren’t counted. To include them, open Advanced options and tick Include spam and trash.
• Your filters may be too narrow: remove one (for example the category or the read status) and search again.

Paused or interrupted clean-up

• Closing the panel or restarting Chrome doesn’t stop a clean-up: it carries on in the background, and the badge on the Unpile icon shows its progress.
• If your connection drops, the panel shows how many emails were processed and a Resume button.
• “Gmail is temporarily limiting requests.” Gmail caps how fast any app can work. Wait a minute, then try again.
• “This search has expired.” Run the search again before deleting.
• More than 100,000 matching emails? Unpile processes the first 100,000 in one run. Run the same clean-up again to continue.

Undo a clean-up

• If you used Move to trash (the default), click Undo: restore all at the end of the clean-up: every email goes back where it was.
• You can also restore emails yourself from the Gmail trash (Open Gmail trash button) for 30 days. After that, Gmail deletes them automatically.

Revoke access or uninstall

• Click Sign out in the Unpile panel: Unpile asks Google to revoke its access to your account.
• Or open myaccount.google.com/permissions, select Unpile and remove its access.
• To uninstall, right-click the Unpile icon, then choose Remove from Chrome. Everything Unpile stored on your computer is erased.

Report an issue

Use the contact form: it can attach your Unpile version and browser for you. Please include:

• your Chrome version (menu ⋮ › Help › About Google Chrome) and your operating system;
• Unpile’s version, shown on the chrome://extensions page;
• the language of the panel;
• what you did, step by step, and the exact message displayed;
• a screenshot if it helps, with personal details hidden.