This is the direction I would like to go when I get the time to do it. Probably I will first do a backup of all my messages and setup some sort of searchable a

This is the direction I would like to go when I get the time to do it. Probably I will first do a backup of all my messages and setup some sort of searchable archive for them. Then delete all new messages, but saving to a different format anything which I believe will be important for the future. Another issue which has prompted me to think in this direction is the change in information handling by Google. It may not be better or worse than before, but it still got me thinking about keeping my email well pruned.