Save Emails to Google Sheets as Tasks for Your Team

Emails often contain action items — requests, deadlines, approvals. Instead of letting them sit in your inbox, turn them into tasks in a shared Google Sheets spreadsheet where your team can track and complete them.

This guide covers how to set up a task tracker in Google Sheets and connect it to your email using Quicktion.

Why Track Tasks in Google Sheets?

Shared access — Everyone on your team can view and update tasks in real time
No learning curve — Your team already knows how to use spreadsheets
Formulas — Use COUNTIF and SUMIF to track completion rates and workload
Conditional formatting — Highlight overdue tasks or high-priority items automatically
Filter views — Each team member can create a personal view without affecting others

Setting Up Your Spreadsheet

Create a Google Sheets spreadsheet with these columns:

Column	Type	Purpose
Task	Text	Email subject (editable)
Status	Dropdown	"To Do", "In Progress", "Done"
Assignee	Dropdown	Who's responsible
Due Date	Date	Deadline
Priority	Dropdown	"High", "Medium", "Low"
From	Text	Who sent the request
Date Received	Date	When the email arrived
Notes	Text	Additional context

Use data validation for Status, Assignee, and Priority columns to keep entries consistent. This takes a minute to set up and prevents typos from breaking your filters.

Connecting Your Email (via Quicktion)

Method 1: Email Forwarding

Best for when certain types of emails are always tasks. Set up a Gmail filter to auto-forward them to your Quicktion address, and they appear as rows in your spreadsheet automatically.

Example: All emails from your project manager should become tasks.

Create a Gmail filter: from:pm@company.com
Set the filter to forward to your Quicktion address
Every matching email becomes a new row in your task sheet

You can combine senders in one filter: from:(client@example.com OR pm@company.com). For the full setup, see our forwarding guide.

Method 2: Gmail Add-on

Best for choosing which emails become tasks. Open an email in Gmail, click the Quicktion add-on, and save it to your task spreadsheet. This gives you control over what gets added. See the Gmail integration guide for details.

Managing Tasks as a Team

Filter Views

Create filter views so each person sees what matters to them without changing the sheet for others:

My Tasks — Filter Assignee to your name, Status not equal to "Done"
Overdue — Filter Due Date before today, Status not equal to "Done"
High Priority — Filter Priority to "High", sorted by Due Date

Conditional Formatting

Set up rules to make the spreadsheet scan at a glance:

Red background on rows where Due Date is before TODAY() and Status is not "Done"
Green background on rows where Status is "Done"
Bold text on rows where Priority is "High"

Formulas

Add a summary section at the top of your sheet or on a separate tab:

=COUNTIF(B:B, "To Do") — Total open tasks
=COUNTIF(B:B, "Done") / COUNTA(B:B) — Completion rate
=COUNTIFS(C:C, "Alice", B:B, "<>Done") — Open tasks per person

Tips

Edit the task name — Email subjects are rarely good task names. Change "Re: Follow up" to "Send updated proposal to Client X."
Set a due date immediately — Tasks without deadlines drift. Add one when you save.
Use filter views, not filters — Regular filters change the sheet for everyone. Filter views are personal.
Don't save everything — Not every email is a task. For tracking purposes, consider an email tracking spreadsheet instead.
Archive done tasks — Move completed tasks to a separate "Done" tab monthly to keep the active sheet clean.

Get Started

Sign up for Quicktion and connect your Google Sheets spreadsheet. Use email forwarding for automatic capture or the Gmail add-on for selective task creation.

Looking for a different platform? You can also track email tasks in Notion or Airtable.