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Q&A

Cleaning Out Gmail

Q. I am close to my storage limit for Gmail but even though I dumped hundreds of messages in Trash, I don’t seem to have regained any space. Why?

A. If you have just marked the messages to be moved to Trash — but have not gone the extra step and permanently deleted them from within Trash — you will not see any change in your account’s storage amount. Gmail automatically deletes messages in Trash after 30 days, but if you have just dumped a bunch of messages, you will not see the reclaimed space right away.

To fully delete the discarded messages, open your browser and log into your Gmail account. On the left side of the screen, click the Trash link. (Click the More triangle if you do not see Trash listed; if you still do not see it, click the gear icon on the right side of the page, choose Settings, click Labels and then click the Show button next to Trash.)

When you have the list of discarded messages on screen, click the Empty Trash Now link at the top of the mailbox. In the alert box that appears, click to confirm you want to fully delete the messages and Gmail will remove them from your account’s storage.

Google provides 15 gigabytes of free storage to share between Gmail, Google Plus Photos and Google Drive. You can see the amount of data used by each service (with links to buy more space) at www.google.com/settings/storage.

Converting Audiobook CDs for iPhone

Q. Using Windows 7, how can I convert my audiobook CDs so I can play them on my iPhone?

A. If your Windows computer has a CD drive, you should be able to convert the spoken-word tracks on the discs to iPhone-compatible digital files just as you can convert music tracks from your personal CD collection to play on an iPhone or iPod. Even if your computer lacks a disc drive, you can find USB-based external models for less than $30.

Along with the CD drive, you need software that can convert the audiobook tracks to the MP3 or AAC formats so they fit nicely on the phone. Apple’s own iTunes program is free to download and can handle the file conversion and management chores to keep things organized. The program usually works well for transferring files between computer and phone, too.

Once you have the hardware and software in place, put the first disc in the drive, open iTunes and follow the on-screen prompts for importing the tracks. Apple’s support site has a step-by-step guide for adding audio files from compact discs that you may want to read beforehand. Since the files for spoken-word audio are typically lower fidelity and do not need to be as big as those for music performance tracks, you can adjust the import settings in iTunes so it does not create enormous files that fill up your iPhone.

You can select the type and size of files you want to create before you start converting the CD tracks. In iTunes 12, go to the iTunes menu, select Preferences, click the General tab and then click on the Import Settings button. If you are using the AAC Encoder, use the drop-down menu next to Setting to select Spoken Podcast. If you have chosen the MP3 Encoder instead, select Custom from the Setting menu and choose a bit-rate of 64 kilobits per second if you want small — but decent-sounding — files.

Depending on how the audiobook was set up, you may find dozens of chapter titles displayed in the iTunes window once the program analyzes the tracks on the disc. If you want to combine them into one file, use the Join CD Tracks command in iTunes before you start the import procedure.

Once you have converted the tracks from the CDs and have them in your iTunes library, you can use the management tools in iTunes to identify the files as audiobooks and make them easier to find on the phone. When you are done with all that, then sync them from the PC to the iPhone over a USB cable to complete the project.

Several sites around the web have more detailed instructions for making audiobook files in iTunes; iLounge and Oak Road Systems are good places to start reading. If you would like a less labor-intensive option, third-party audiobook tools like Chapter and Verse for Windows (or Audiobook Builder for Mac users) can simplify the process.

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