Email files to Google Drive
Email It In gives you your own email address. Send or forward an attachment to it and it is saved in the Google Drive folder you picked, a few seconds later. Folders in shared drives work too.
Paid plans start at $5 a month for 200 files a month, with no email size limit. To try it out, the free plan takes up to 20 files a month, in emails up to 5 MB.
How to set it up
Sign in with Google
Use the Google account whose Drive should get the files. On the Google screen, leave the Google Drive box ticked: without it, Email It In cannot save anything.
Pick a folder
Google's own folder picker opens. Pick a folder in My Drive, or open the "Shared drives" tab and pick one there. If you prefer, Email It In makes a folder called "Email It In" for you.
Send attachments to your address
Your address looks like jane42otter@emailitin.com. Every attachment sent to it is saved in that folder, under its own file name.
Why you pick the folder
Email It In asks Google only for access to the files and folders it creates or that you pick. Google calls this the drive.file permission. Email It In cannot open, list or search the rest of your Drive.
That is why you choose folders with the Google picker instead of typing a folder name. A folder you made yourself stays invisible to Email It In until you pick it.
Filing into a shared drive
Teams that keep their files in a Google shared drive can file straight into it. Open the "Shared drives" tab in the picker and choose the folder. Everyone with access to that shared drive sees each new file as it arrives.
You need permission to add files to the shared drive. On a paid plan, each routing rule can point to its own picked folder, even in a different shared drive.
Same name: keep both or replace
On a paid plan you choose what happens when the folder already has a file with that name:
- Keep both: Google Drive allows two files with the same name, so the new file sits next to the old one.
- Replace: Email It In finds the existing file and replaces its content. The file keeps its link, so shared links still work.
Questions about Google Drive
Can Email It In see the rest of my Google Drive?
No. It can only see the folders you pick, the folders and files it creates, and nothing else. It cannot read your Gmail either.
I made a folder myself. Why did Email It In create a new one with the same name?
Email It In cannot see folders you made yourself until you pick them. Open Folders in your account and choose the folder with the picker; new files then go into it.
What if I untick the Google Drive box when I sign in?
Email It In cannot save files without it, so sign-in stops and asks you to try again. Sign in again and leave the Google Drive box ticked.
Thinking of a Zapier or n8n workflow that watches your Gmail instead? Compare Email It In with a Gmail-to-Drive workflow.
More answers in the FAQ. Scanning from an office copier? See scan to the cloud from any copier.
Get your address
Paid plans start at $5 a month for 200 files a month, with no email size limit. To try it out, the free plan takes up to 20 files a month, in emails up to 5 MB.