How to Save Emails to Notion with Attachments

Emails often come with attachments — PDFs, images, spreadsheets, documents. When you save an email to Notion, you want those attachments to come along. Here's how it works with Quicktion.

How Attachment Handling Works

When you forward an email to Quicktion (or save it via the Gmail add-on), the system processes both the email body and any attachments:

1. Email body → Converted to Notion blocks (headings, paragraphs, lists, links)
2. Attachments → Uploaded to Notion as file blocks within the page

The result is a Notion page that contains the full email content plus all attached files, accessible directly from Notion.

Supported Attachment Types

Quicktion handles the same attachment types that Notion supports:

• Documents — PDF, DOC, DOCX, TXT
• Spreadsheets — XLS, XLSX, CSV
• Images — PNG, JPG, GIF, SVG
• Presentations — PPT, PPTX
• Archives — ZIP (uploaded as-is)
• Other files — Most common file types

Images from the email body (not just attachments) are also captured and embedded as image blocks in Notion.

Setting Up for Attachments

Database Configuration

Make sure your Notion database has a Files & media property if you want attachments listed as a property (in addition to being embedded in the page content):

Destination Mapping

In your Quicktion destination settings, map the attachments field to your Files & media property. Email attachments will then appear both in the page content and as a property value.

Practical Examples

Saving Invoices with PDF Attachments

Your vendor sends an invoice email with a PDF attached. This is especially useful for tracking receipts and invoices in Notion:

1. The email is forwarded to your Quicktion address (manually or via filter)
2. Quicktion creates a Notion page with the email body as content
3. The PDF invoice is uploaded and embedded in the page
4. The PDF also appears in the "Attachments" property for easy filtering

Saving Client Briefs

A client sends a project brief with multiple attachments (a requirements doc, reference images, and a budget spreadsheet):

1. Forward the email to your project database destination
2. All three files are uploaded to the Notion page
3. The email context is preserved alongside the files

Saving Receipts with Images

Some receipts arrive as email body images (not attachments). Quicktion captures inline images too, so the receipt image appears in your Notion page.

Tips for Managing Attachments

1. Use the Files property — Adding a Files & media property to your database makes it easy to see which entries have attachments without opening each page.
2. Name files clearly — While you can't rename attachments during forwarding, you can rename them in Notion after they're saved.
3. Watch file sizes — Very large attachments may take longer to process. Notion has its own file size limits depending on your plan.
4. Use views — Create a Notion view filtered to entries with attachments (Files & media is not empty) to find pages with files quickly.

Limitations

• Notion file size limits — Notion free plan has a 5MB per file upload limit. Paid plans allow larger files.
• Encrypted attachments — Password-protected or encrypted files are uploaded as-is but can't be previewed in Notion.
• Inline vs. attached — Inline images (embedded in the email HTML) and file attachments are both captured, but they appear differently in the Notion page.

Get Started

Sign up for Quicktion and forward an email with attachments to test it out. Your email body and all attachments will appear together in your Notion database.