How to Save Attachments to Google Drive From Gmail

Use Google Drive to organize and share your email attachments

What to Know

  • In an email, hover over the attachment and select Add to Drive. Choose Organize if you want to select a destination folder.
  • To open a saved attachment, hover over the item and choose the folder (My Drive) to open the location where the item is saved.

You can save email attachments sent to your Gmail account in Google Drive. You can then access and share those files using any device with an internet connection. Learn how to save attachments to Google Drive, and how to open a saved attachment in Drive using the web version of Gmail.

How to Save Attachments to Google Drive From Gmail

To save files attached to an email to your Google Drive account from the message in Gmail:

  1. Open the email with the attachment.

    A Gmail message with attachment
  2. Hover the cursor over the attachment you want to save to Google Drive. Two icons appear: a down arrow (Download) and a triangle with a plus sign (Add to Drive).

  3. Select Add to Drive to save the attachment to Google Drive. If you have multiple folders set up on Google Drive, select Organize to choose the appropriate folder.

    Gmail with the Save to Drive button highlighted
  4. To save the files that are attached to an email to Google Drive in one go, select the Download all attachments icon, located in the upper-right corner of the attachments section and indicated by a down arrow over a horizontal line.

    You cannot move individual files to particular folders if you save all files at once, but you can move the saved documents individually in Google Drive.

How to Open a Saved Gmail Attachment in Drive

To open an attachment you just saved in Google Drive:

  1. In the email containing the attachment icon, hover the cursor over the attachment you saved to Google Drive and want to open.

  2. Select the folder icon (Organize in Drive).

    Gmail with the Organize in Drive button highlighted
  3. In the menu that appears, select the folder (usually My Drive) to open Drive to the location where the item is saved. To stay in Gmail, select Move this item, then choose a destination folder.

    Gmail with a Google Drive folder highlighted
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