Gmail to Google Sheets: 4 Ways to Connect Gmail and Sheets

Gmail and Google Sheets are both Google products, but they don't natively connect in a meaningful way. There's no built-in button in Gmail to log an email to a spreadsheet. No automatic forwarding rule that appends email data as new rows.

If you want a working Gmail-to-Google Sheets integration, you need a third-party tool or a workaround. The good news: there are four solid methods, each with different strengths. This guide covers all of them so you can pick the one that fits your workflow.

Here's what we'll compare:

1. Gmail add-on (manual, one-click saving from Gmail)
2. Email forwarding (automatic, rule-based saving)
3. Google Apps Script (free but technical, requires coding)
4. Automation platforms (Zapier, Make)

Method 1: Gmail Add-on (Quicktion)

A Gmail add-on is the most direct way to save emails to Google Sheets. You stay in Gmail, click a button, and the email appears in your spreadsheet. No tab-switching, no copy-pasting.

Quicktion's Gmail add-on works as a sidebar panel inside Gmail. When you open any email, you click the Quicktion icon, choose a destination spreadsheet, and hit save.

How to Set It Up

Step 1: Install the add-on. Open the Google Workspace Marketplace, search for "Quicktion," and click Install. Grant the requested permissions (read email and display sidebar).

Step 2: Connect Google. Open Gmail, click the Quicktion icon in the right sidebar, and sign in with your Google account. Then connect your Google account and authorize access to Google Sheets and Drive.

Step 3: Create a destination. In your Quicktion dashboard, create a destination linked to a Google spreadsheet. Choose which sheet tab will receive emails and configure which columns map to which email fields (subject, sender, date, body, attachments).

Step 4: Save an email. Open any email in Gmail, click the Quicktion icon, select your destination, and click Save to Google Sheets. Done.

What Gets Saved

The add-on extracts and maps the full email to your spreadsheet:

• Subject saved to a column you configure
• Sender name and email saved to separate columns
• Date received saved to a date column, formatted to your spreadsheet's timezone
• Full email body converted to markdown with clickable links preserved as rich text
• Attachments uploaded to Google Drive and linked in an attachments column

Pros

• One-click saving from inside Gmail
• Preview before saving — see exactly what data will be added to your sheet
• Full email formatting preserved as rich text with clickable links
• Attachment handling — files uploaded to Drive and linked automatically
• No email forwarding rules to configure

When to Use It

The Gmail add-on is best when you want to cherry-pick individual emails. You read an email, decide it belongs in your spreadsheet, and save it on the spot. It's ideal for logging important client emails, one-off receipts, or anything that doesn't follow a predictable pattern.

For more on email-to-Sheets workflows, see our complete guide to saving emails to Google Sheets.

Method 2: Email Forwarding

Email forwarding is the "set it and forget it" approach to Gmail-to-Google Sheets integration. Instead of manually saving each email, you forward them to a unique address and they automatically appear in your spreadsheet.

How It Works

Step 1: Create a destination. In your Quicktion dashboard, create a destination linked to a Google spreadsheet. Quicktion generates a unique forwarding address like abc123@in.quicktion.io.

Step 2: Configure column mapping. Choose which email fields map to which spreadsheet columns. Subject to column A, sender to column B, date to column C, body to column D, and so on. You control the order and which fields to include.

Step 3: Forward emails. You can forward emails manually by sending them to your Quicktion address, or — more powerfully — set up automatic forwarding with Gmail filters.

Setting Up Auto-Forwarding in Gmail

This is where email forwarding becomes truly hands-off. Gmail's filter system lets you automatically forward matching emails to your Quicktion address.

1. In Gmail, click the search bar dropdown and define your filter criteria (e.g., from a specific sender, containing certain words, or with attachments)
2. Click Create filter
3. Check Forward it to and select your Quicktion forwarding address
4. Optionally check Also apply filter to matching conversations to process existing emails

From that point on, every email matching your filter is automatically saved to Google Sheets. You don't need to open Gmail, click anything, or even be at your computer.

For the full setup process, see our email forwarding to Google Sheets guide.

Pros

• Fully automatic once configured
• Works with any email client — not just Gmail (forward from Outlook, Apple Mail, etc.)
• Rule-based — save only emails that match specific criteria
• No manual action required per email
• Bulk processing — can handle high volumes without manual effort

When to Use It

Email forwarding shines for high-volume, predictable workflows. Receipts from specific vendors. Order confirmations from e-commerce platforms. Newsletter subscriptions you want archived. Lead inquiries from a contact form.

Anything where you can define a rule like "all emails from X go to spreadsheet Y" is perfect for forwarding.

Many users combine forwarding with the Gmail add-on: forwarding handles the automated, predictable emails while the add-on handles the one-off, selective saves. See our comparison of both methods for more detail.

Method 3: Google Apps Script

Google Apps Script is Google's JavaScript-based scripting platform. It can access both Gmail and Google Sheets APIs, which means you can write code that reads emails and writes them to a spreadsheet.

This is the free, DIY alternative. You write the script yourself, and Google runs it for you on their servers.

How It Works

Step 1: Create a new Apps Script project. Open Google Sheets, go to Extensions > Apps Script, and create a new project.

Step 2: Write code to fetch emails. Use the Gmail API to search for emails matching specific criteria (e.g., GmailApp.search("from:billing@stripe.com")).

Step 3: Extract email data. Parse the email subject, sender, date, body, and attachments using Apps Script methods.

Step 4: Write data to Sheets. Use the Sheets API to append a new row with the extracted data (e.g., sheet.appendRow([subject, sender, date, body])).

Step 5: Set up a trigger. Configure a time-based trigger to run your script every hour, every day, or on whatever schedule you need.

Pros

• Completely free — no subscription required
• Full control — you write the exact logic you need
• No third-party tools — everything runs on Google's infrastructure
• Custom logic — handle complex parsing, conditional routing, or data transformation

Cons

• Requires coding knowledge — you need to know JavaScript and understand Gmail/Sheets APIs
• API quotas — Gmail API has daily quotas that can be hit with high-volume workflows
• Maintenance burden — if Google updates their APIs or your email structure changes, you need to update the script yourself
• No built-in rich text conversion — you'll need to write custom code to preserve links and formatting
• Attachment handling is complex — uploading files to Drive and linking them in Sheets requires significant additional code
• Error handling — you need to write your own retry logic, logging, and error notifications

When to Use It

Apps Script makes sense if you're a developer, have very specific custom requirements, or want to avoid any subscription costs. It's also useful for learning or prototyping.

But for most users, the time investment to build, test, and maintain an Apps Script solution exceeds the cost of a simple tool like Quicktion. A typical Apps Script implementation takes several hours to build and debug, and requires ongoing maintenance.

If you're not already familiar with Apps Script, starting from scratch just to save emails to Sheets is probably not the best use of your time.

Method 4: Automation Tools (Zapier, Make)

General-purpose automation platforms like Zapier and Make can connect Gmail to Google Sheets through trigger-action workflows. They're powerful and flexible, but come with tradeoffs compared to purpose-built tools.

How It Works

In Zapier, you create a "Zap" with a Gmail trigger (e.g., "new email matching search") and a Google Sheets action (e.g., "add row"). In Make, the same concept is called a "Scenario" with modules.

You define the trigger conditions (which emails), map fields to columns, and the automation runs whenever a matching email arrives.

Pros

• Flexible trigger conditions — match on virtually any email attribute
• Chain multiple actions — save to Sheets, then send a Slack message, then log to Airtable
• Thousands of integrations — if you already use Zapier or Make for other workflows, adding email-to-Sheets is straightforward
• Conditional logic — route different emails to different spreadsheets based on rules

Cons

• Basic email body handling — most Zapier/Make workflows only capture plain text, not rich text with clickable links
• Complex setup — building a solid workflow takes 15-20 minutes, and debugging edge cases takes longer
• Paid plans required for useful features — free tiers are limited in tasks and frequency
• Task-based pricing — each email processed counts as a task, which adds up quickly at scale
• No Gmail add-on — no way to manually save individual emails from within Gmail
• Attachment handling is manual — you need to set up separate actions to upload files to Drive and link them
• Column mapping is fragile — if you reorganize your spreadsheet columns, your automation breaks

When to Use It

Automation tools work best when you need complex conditional logic that purpose-built tools don't support. For example, if you want to save an email to Sheets and create a task in Asana and send a Slack notification — all from one trigger — Zapier or Make can do that.

But if your primary goal is just getting emails into Google Sheets with good formatting and attachment handling, a dedicated tool like Quicktion delivers better results with less setup.

Gmail to Google Sheets: Method Comparison

Here's how the four methods stack up side by side:

For most people who just want a reliable Gmail-to-Google Sheets integration, the combination of the Gmail add-on and email forwarding covers every scenario. Use the add-on for selective saves and forwarding for automated ones.

Popular Use Cases

Expense & Receipt Tracking

Forward purchase confirmations and invoices to a Google Sheets expense tracker. The subject captures the vendor, the date records when the transaction happened, and attachments (PDF receipts) are uploaded to Drive and linked in the spreadsheet.

Set up Gmail filters for common vendors (Amazon, Stripe, PayPal, Square) and every receipt is logged automatically. Filter by date range for tax season or reimbursement requests.

For a Notion-based alternative, see our receipt tracking guide.

Lead Capture & CRM

If you receive sales inquiries via email, forward them to a Google Sheets CRM tracker. The sender becomes the lead contact, the body contains their question, and the date shows when they reached out.

Add columns for status (New, Contacted, Qualified, Closed) and deal value. Filter by status, sort by date, and keep your entire pipeline visible in one sheet.

See our email tracking spreadsheet guide for more detail.

Order Confirmation Log

E-commerce businesses and marketplace sellers receive order confirmations via email. Forward these to a Google Sheets order log to track fulfillment timelines and inventory.

Set up auto-forwarding from platforms like Shopify, Etsy, or Amazon Seller Central. Your order history is automatically logged and searchable.

Newsletter Archive

Subscribing to newsletters is easy. Finding that one article three months later is hard. Forward newsletters to a Google Sheets archive and you get a searchable log with subjects, dates, senders, and full content.

Add a column for "Read" status or "Category" to organize what you've consumed vs. what's queued up. Use Sheets' search function to find articles by keyword.

For a Notion-based approach, see our newsletter archiving guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you save Gmail emails to Google Sheets?

Yes. You can save Gmail emails to Google Sheets using a Gmail add-on like Quicktion, email forwarding, Google Apps Script, or automation platforms like Zapier. The simplest methods are Quicktion's Gmail add-on (one-click saving) and email forwarding (automatic saving via forwarding rules).

What is the best Gmail to Google Sheets integration?

Quicktion is the best Gmail-to-Google Sheets integration for most users because it offers both a Gmail add-on for manual saving and email forwarding for automatic saving, with rich text formatting and attachment uploads to Drive. Alternatives like Zapier or Apps Script require more setup and don't preserve rich text as well.

Is there a free way to save Gmail emails to Google Sheets?

Yes. Quicktion offers a free plan that includes 25 emails per month with both the Gmail add-on and email forwarding. Google Apps Script is also free but requires coding knowledge and significant time investment to build and maintain.

Can Google Apps Script save emails to Sheets?

Yes, but it requires writing JavaScript code, handling Gmail API quotas, and maintaining the script yourself. For most users, a no-code tool like Quicktion is faster to set up and more reliable. Apps Script is best for developers with custom requirements.

Can I automatically send Gmail emails to Google Sheets?

Yes. Set up a Gmail filter to auto-forward matching emails to your Quicktion forwarding address. Every forwarded email is automatically saved to your spreadsheet with all fields mapped to the right columns. You can create multiple filters for different email types.

What data gets saved from Gmail to Sheets?

Subject, sender name, sender email, date, the full email body (as rich text with clickable links), and attachments (uploaded to Google Drive and linked). You control which columns appear in your sheet and in what order.

Get Started

The fastest way to set up a Gmail-to-Google Sheets integration is with Quicktion. Create a free account, connect your Google account, and start saving emails in under two minutes — either with the Gmail add-on or email forwarding.

For a complete walkthrough of every feature, read our guide to saving emails to Google Sheets.

For more advanced spreadsheet workflows, see our email tracking spreadsheet guide.