Skip to main content

How to save an attachment from Gmail straight to Google Drive

how to change your gmail account password version 1413698423
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Recently, Google rolled out an update that allows Gmail users to save attachments from their emails directly to Google Drive, Google’s cloud storage service. Prior to the update, people who wanted to upload stuff to their Google Drive account from their Gmail inbox had to first download the attachments, save them to their machines, and then upload them to Google Drive manually. Not anymore.

So how do you pull this off? It’s pretty simple. Well show you how. 

Recommended Videos

How to save an attachment straight to Google Drive

First, open an email in your Gmail account that contains an attachment. From there, put your mouse pointer directly over the preview image of the attachment you want to save to Google Drive, which should be located towards the end of the email near where you’d type up a reply. By putting your mouse pointer over the preview image, Gmail gives you two options to choose from, in the form of buttons.

By clicking on the button on the left, you’ll simply download the attachment to your computer. However, the button on the right, whose icon sort of resembles the universal symbol for recycling,  is the button that’ll allow you to save that attachment directly to Google Drive.  Click on it, and it’ll do just that.

Depending on the size of the file, that attachment will soon be saved to your Google Drive account. To find it, just open your Google Drive account and search for the attachment by using the search box at the top of the screen. You can also find it manually, though we don’t recommend that you do so if your Google Drive account has tons of files in it.

Topics
Konrad Krawczyk
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Konrad covers desktops, laptops, tablets, sports tech and subjects in between for Digital Trends. Prior to joining DT, he…
How to change margins in Google Docs
Laptop Working from Home

When you create a document in Google Docs, you may need to adjust the space between the edge of the page and the content --- the margins. For instance, many professors have requirements for the margin sizes you must use for college papers.

You can easily change the left, right, top, and bottom margins in Google Docs and have a few different ways to do it.

Read more
How to clone a hard drive or SSD for free

Cloning your hard drive or SSD is a straightforward way to bring all your data, apps, and settings over to a new drive. That lets you get all the benefits of a new drive, like faster performance, greater capacity, and more advanced features, without having to install everything from scratch. And with the right tool, you don't even need to pay anything.

Here's how to clone your hard drive, for free.

Read more
How to insert a text box in Google Docs
Text box in Google Docs on a laptop.

Maybe you’re trying to make text more prominent in your document or want a uniform appearance for certain portions of content. Unlike Microsoft Word, Google Docs doesn’t currently provide a built-in text box feature, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

We’ll show you a few ways to insert a text box in Google Docs. Each has its pros and cons, which we’ll also explain, so that you can use the best option for your document.

Read more