Eliana Willis

Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNETEvery new Google email account comes with 15GB of free storage — a solid offer at no cost. However, that space can fill up fast, especially since it also covers files in Google Drive and Google Photos.If your inbox is cluttered with unread newsletters and sneaky spam, there’s a way to clean house without losing important messages. With the right approach, you can preserve what matters while giving yourself a fresh start.Also: Gmail is making it a whole lot easier to clean out your inbox on AndroidThere is always the option of manually cleaning out your Gmail inbox or downloading some material to your local drive. What a pain, though, right? And, chances are, you’ll only eliminate so much junk before those gigabytes start stacking up again.I should note that Google offers a way to pay for more storage by upgrading to a Google One account. The “Basic” plan costs $24 per year for 100GB. The free solution, however, lies in taking a few steps to back up your essential files and reset your data capacity.1. Back up your files, at least temporarilyIf you’re going through this process, you’re likely serious about retaining emails that could span years. So, as an added safety measure, it’s a good practice to back up your emails on your computer or an external hard drive before transferring them back into the cloud.Also: 6 hidden Android features every user should know – and how they make life easierTo do this, go to Google Takeout and select “Google Photos” and/or “Drive” as the products you wish to export, then follow the prompts. (Once you’ve completed the transfer, you can delete and free up your hard disk drive (HDD) for other uses.) Be aware that this process can take a while, depending on your quantity of emails and number of gigabytes. To give you an idea, CNET’s Jason Chun used Google Takeout with a test Gmail account that held about 75,000 emails, and this wholesale download took around two hours to complete.2. Prepare to transfer your Gmails to a new email accountNow that you’ve saved a copy of your emails, it’s time to transfer them. To do this:Log into your original Gmail account and click the gear icon in the top right corner. Then click “See all settings.”Select the Forwarding POP/IMAP tab. Then select the option “Enable POP for all mail.” (POP stands for Post Office Protocol).You’ll have several options under “When messages are accessed with POP.” Select delete Gmail’s copy to automatically delete the emails from your original account after the transfer.Select “Save changes.”3. Create a second (archive) account and transfer your messagesAt this point, you can create your new account and transfer all your messages there: To create a new inbox-zero Gmail account, go here. This new one will serve as your archive account. Log into your new archive account, click the gear icon in the top right, and select “See all settings.” Select the Accounts and Import tab at the top. Then select “Add a mail account” next to “Check mail from other accounts.”In the pop-up window, enter the name of your original Gmail account, then select “Next.” Select “Import emails from my other account (POP3),” and then select “Next” again. 6. Enter the password of your original Gmail account.Also: Notion Mail offers AI perks – but skips a few crucial Notion featuresNote that you might also need to whip up a temporary Google app password to sync the accounts. So, if your original Gmail account password doesn’t work at this step, visit https://myaccount.google.com/apppasswords to create a temporary 16-digit passcode.Simply create a name for the password, such as “Email Transfer,” then hit “Create.” A pop-up window with your new 16-digit passcode will display. Here, you should jot it down or take a screenshot until you can discard this password. Google will only show it to you once! 7. Once you’ve synced your accounts, find Port and select “995.” 8. Next, you’ll want to check three boxes:  9. Finally, select “Add account.” More

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra <!–> ZDNET’s key takeaways The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is on sale for $650 in four color options. Its display is vibrant and large, the battery lasts through a couple of days, and LTE is provided at no extra cost. It comes in a single 47mm size, gesture support is limited, […] More

Maria Diaz/ZDNETWhenever I hear about consumer data tracking, my half-century-old brain dredges up that Hall and Oates hit called “Private Eyes” with the refrain “they’re watching you.” I don’t mean to incite Big Brother paranoia; I know I’m not being spied on everywhere I go, especially not in the seclusion of my home. But while using streaming devices, you can almost guarantee that your entertainment and advertisement preferences are being tracked.Also: Your Apple TV is getting 5 useful features for free – including a big one for karaoke fansThe culprit is better known as Big Data — arguably less invasive and sinister, but still annoying to some people — and there are ways to mitigate that on your streaming devices if you’re one of them.While some data collection is necessary for basic functionality, many streaming devices collect more than required; so much so that you essentially lose control of your privacy, fall into filter bubbles (viewing algorithms that are narrower), and receive more targeted ads than expected. Below are some general strategies for regaining control over your privacy while using streaming services.  More