Automatically Save Gmail Attachments to Google Drive: The Complete Zapier Tutorial

If you've ever spent time manually downloading email attachments and uploading them to cloud storage, you know how tedious it gets. What starts as a minor task becomes a significant time drain when you're handling dozens of attachments daily.

Here's the good news: you can completely automate this process with Zapier—no coding required. In this guide, I'll walk you through setting up an automation that saves every Gmail attachment directly to Google Drive the moment it arrives.

Why Automate Email Attachments?

Before we dive into the how, let's talk about the why:

Time savings: The average professional receives 121 emails per day. Even if only 10% have attachments, that's 12 manual download-and-upload cycles daily.

Organization: Automated systems are consistent. Every attachment goes exactly where you specify, every single time.

Accessibility: Files in Google Drive are instantly searchable and shareable—no more digging through email threads.

Backup: Your attachments are automatically backed up to the cloud, reducing risk of data loss.

What You'll Need

Before starting, make sure you have:

• A Gmail account (personal or Google Workspace)
• A Google Drive account
• A Zapier account (free tier works for this automation)
• About 15 minutes of setup time

Step-by-Step Setup Guide

Step 1: Create Your Zapier Account

If you don't have a Zapier account yet:

1. Go to zapier.com
2. Click "Sign Up" and create your account
3. Verify your email address

Zapier's free plan includes 100 tasks per month, which is enough for moderate email attachment volume.

Step 2: Create a New Zap

Once logged in:

1. Click the orange "Create Zap" button in the top left
2. You'll see the Zap editor with a trigger step ready to configure

Step 3: Set Up the Gmail Trigger

The trigger is what starts your automation. We want it to fire whenever a new email with an attachment arrives.

1. Search for "Gmail" in the app search box
2. Select Gmail from the results
3. For the trigger event, choose "New Attachment"
4. Click Continue

Now you'll need to connect your Gmail account:

1. Click "Sign in to Gmail"
2. Select your Google account
3. Grant Zapier the necessary permissions
4. Click Continue

Step 4: Configure Trigger Options

Zapier will ask you to customize the trigger:

Label/Mailbox: Choose which label or folder to monitor. Options include:

• INBOX (all incoming mail)
• A specific label (recommended for filtering)

Pro tip: Create a Gmail filter that labels emails from specific senders, then only monitor that label. This gives you granular control.

Click Continue, then Test trigger to ensure Zapier can access your Gmail.

Step 5: Set Up the Google Drive Action

Now we'll tell Zapier what to do with those attachments:

1. Click the "+" button to add an action step
2. Search for "Google Drive"
3. Select Google Drive from results
4. For the action event, choose "Upload File"
5. Click Continue

Connect your Google Drive account:

1. Click "Sign in to Google Drive"
2. Select your Google account (can be same or different from Gmail)
3. Grant permissions
4. Click Continue

Step 6: Configure the Upload Settings

This is where the magic happens. You'll map the Gmail attachment data to Google Drive:

Drive: Select "My Google Drive" or a shared drive

Folder: Choose the destination folder. Click the dropdown and navigate to your desired location. I recommend creating a dedicated folder like "Email Attachments" or organizing by sender.

File: Click in this field and select "Attachment" from the Gmail trigger data. This tells Zapier to upload the actual attachment file.

File Name: You have options here:

• Use the original filename: Select "Attachment File Name" from trigger data
• Create custom names: Combine fields like {{date}} - {{from}} - {{attachment_file_name}}

Convert to Google Docs Format: Usually leave this OFF unless you specifically want Google to convert Office files.

Step 7: Test Your Zap

Before going live:

1. Click "Test step"
2. Zapier will upload a sample attachment to your Google Drive
3. Check your Drive folder to confirm the file appeared
4. Verify the filename and location are correct

Step 8: Activate Your Zap

If testing succeeded:

1. Give your Zap a descriptive name (e.g., "Gmail Attachments → Drive Backup")
2. Toggle the Zap ON in the top right
3. Your automation is now live!

Advanced Configurations

Filter by File Type

Want to only save PDFs or spreadsheets? Add a filter step:

1. Click "+" between your trigger and action
2. Select "Filter"
3. Set condition: "Attachment File Name" → "Contains" → ".pdf"
4. Only matching attachments will continue to Drive

Filter by Sender

To save attachments only from specific people or domains:

1. Add a Filter step
2. Set condition: "From Email" → "Contains" → "@company.com"

Organize by Date

Create dynamic folder structures:

1. In the Google Drive action, you can create folders dynamically
2. Use "Create Folder" action first
3. Name it using date fields like {{zap_meta_human_now_format_YYYY-MM}}
4. Then use that folder in your Upload action

Multiple Attachment Handling

Gmail messages can have multiple attachments. By default, Zapier creates separate tasks for each attachment in an email. This is usually what you want, but be aware it counts against your task limit.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

"I don't see my attachments in Drive"

1. Check that your Zap is turned ON (green toggle)
2. Verify the trigger email has the correct label (if you filtered by label)
3. Check Zap history: Go to your Zap → "Zap history" tab to see runs
4. Ensure you have Drive storage space available

"Attachments are going to the wrong folder"

1. Edit your Zap and re-select the correct folder
2. Folder IDs can change if you rename or move folders—this breaks the connection
3. Re-test and republish your Zap

"My Zap stopped working"

1. Check if your Google account authorization expired
2. Go to Zapier → "My Apps" → Reconnect Gmail and Drive
3. Edit your Zap and re-test each step

"Duplicate files appearing"

1. Check if you have multiple Zaps doing the same thing
2. If an email is modified (marked read, labeled), it might re-trigger
3. Use Zapier's built-in deduplication or add a filter

Real-World Use Cases

Accountants: Automatically save invoice PDFs from clients to organized folders by month.

Recruiters: Save resume attachments to a "Candidates" folder for easy team access.

Project Managers: Capture deliverable documents sent by contractors directly to project folders.

Sales Teams: Archive proposal documents and contracts without manual intervention.

Executive Assistants: Organize travel itineraries and meeting documents from multiple senders.

Beyond Basic: Next-Level Automations

Once you've mastered this Zap, consider these expansions:

Add notifications: Include a Slack or email notification step confirming each save.

Create backups: Send attachments to both Google Drive AND Dropbox for redundancy.

Rename intelligently: Use a Formatter step to clean up or standardize filenames before saving.

Log to spreadsheet: Add a row to Google Sheets tracking every saved attachment with date, sender, and filename.

Cost Considerations

Zapier's free plan includes:

• 100 tasks/month
• 5 Zaps (automations)
• 15-minute update time

If you process more attachments, paid plans start at $19.99/month for 750 tasks with faster update times.

For most individual users, the free plan is sufficient. Teams or high-volume users should consider the Starter or Professional plans.

Wrapping Up

Automating email attachments to Google Drive is one of those "set it and forget it" automations that compounds in value over time. What feels like a small convenience becomes hours saved over months and years.

The best part? This took us 15 minutes to set up. No code. No technical expertise. Just a straightforward workflow that runs 24/7 in the background.

Your next step: Open Zapier and create this automation today. Start with your personal email to get comfortable, then expand to work accounts and additional integrations.

Once you experience the satisfaction of hands-free file organization, you'll start seeing automation opportunities everywhere. And that's exactly the mindset that transforms how you work.

---

Have questions about this Zapier setup or want to see more no-code automation tutorials? Drop a comment below or check out our other Zapier guides.