I have been asked several times how we might share a folder in Gmail, or do a bulk export of Gmail messages for some reason. Today's post finally provides a good solution to these problems. Thanks to Mary McSorley for finding and testing this new add-on.
A third party has developed a free add-on for Google Drive. It runs a script that looks for Gmail messages that meet certain criteria. For example all emails with a certain label (which is what Google calls your folders in Gmail). You can also create other rules, such as all emails to or from a certain person, emails with a certain subject line, which contain a specific word or phrase, or from a specific date period.
The emails will be saved as PDF documents in a folder on Google Drive that you select. By default, emails are given a file name based on the subject line. You can change that if you want. It will also save any attachments that are attached to the selected emails.
Once you have created the rule, it will run every hour in order to keep your Google Drive up to date. Of course, if you just want it to run one time, you can run the program and then delete it.
This can be a convenient way to share an entire folder full of Gmails with other people in the firm. Simply create a filter to sync a particular folder in your Gmail with a folder in Drive. Then, simply share that Drive folder with others who need access to the emails.
This tool can also be useful if you want to do a large dump of email messages from Gmail to another source. Perhaps you want to save the emails as PDF files for storage in MDIR, or to transmit them to some other party. Run this add-on, then take the PDF files that have been created and send them wherever you like.
The tool itself is fairly easy to use. Here is how you use it:
- Go to the Chrome Store and install the Add-on called "save emails and attachments" (here is the link):
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/save-emails-and-attachmen/nflmnfjphdbeagnilbihcodcophecebc - Once you have installed the add-on, open a spreadsheet in Google Drive (Google Sheets). Give the spreadsheet a name like "Saved Gmails".
- In the new spreadsheet, click on "Add-ons" then "Save Emails and Attachments" then "Create New Rule"
- Select the criteria your script will use to decide which emails to be saved. You can change the default names of emails and attachments, but I don't recommend it. You can always rename the saved files later.
- Select the folder in Google Drive where you want the PDF files to be saved.
- That's it. The rule will run every hour by default. If you prefer, you can run the rule once, then delete the rule or the whole spreadsheet.
When the script runs, it adds a line to the spreadsheet of every message that has been exported. This gives you a list of your converted files. It also adds a label to the email in your Gmail account called "saved." This is necessary so that it does not export the same messages over and over each hour. If, for some reason, you want it to export the same message again, simply remove the "saved" label in Gmail and it will be treated like an unprocessed message the next time the script runs.
Once you have the PDF files in your Google Drive, you can share the entire folder with others who need access to them. You can also download the files to your local computer or the MDIR to organize as you wish.
I have tested the product, which seems to work well. The free version is limited to two scripts. That should be enough for most people. Let me know if you think you need to create something more complex and need the deluxe version.
In reading the online reviews, some people complained that the program stopped syncing after a few months and needed to be synced manually. I don't know if that issue has been fixed, but keep this in mind if you are planning to use as a long term sync. You may want to check that it is still running properly.
This program can be a useful tool for anyone looking for an easy way to export their messages or to share the contents of a Gmail folder with others.
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